Holistic Board Leadership
This is a ONE THING article, which is featured in FDI’s monthly newsletter. Sign up to receive this in your inbox or Join the Future Directors Hub to receive this and more.
ONE THING is for the busy (speak of the devil) Future Director, in which FDI Founder Paul Smith picks just one thing Future Directors oughta know or do or stew on for the next month. We hope you get something (at least one thing) out of it.
If all the things happening in the governance world this month – the PwC scandal a prime example – the one thing I want to share with you is actually far closer to home.
It’s an age-old anecdote I bet you can identify with: You’re at a work function or barbeque or whatnot, meeting a stranger, a friend of a friend, and the first question they ask to break the ice is…. “So, what do you do?”
Is there any question more reductive? It strips away all the 3D of being human and flattens you to whatever it says on your LinkedIn title. It’s uninteresting. It’s uninsightful. And, ultimately, it’s a thinly-veiled attempt to see where each of you sit within the invisible social hierarchy hovering all around you.
Given that only the few are properly primed for this question with a well-rehearsed response that gives the fledgling conversation a needed boost, I’ve been experimenting with a different question. “Who are you, outside of work?”
This has opened up far more interesting chats. People talk about their families, their friendships, the causes they’re passionate about, and even their struggles.
Weirdly, this relates to what we’ve been focused on at Future Directors lately. Something that will help board members become even better in the boardroom.
It’s our new member community – the Future Directors Hub. It’s a ‘wellness club’ of sorts, for board directors to train and develop in every aspect, holistically rather than one-dimensionally. It offers short courses on everything from emotional intelligence and intersectional leadership training, to governance thinking and tech knowledge. Hard skills, human skills, and a community of passionate peers – all for an equitable $19/mo. That’s Australian dollars.
You see, the reason “Who are you outside of work?” is such an interesting question is because it’s the sort of question we should ask ourselves to be the best we can be at work, in the boardroom.
Increasingly, what separates modern board members from the pack is their holistic approach to their role(s).
They don’t see themselves as computers spitting out technical knowledge needed to aid a decision-making process. They are fully integrated and present humans and see their personal development and professional development as one and the same.
This sharpness comes from their curiosity, their openness, their fluidity – seeing everything as one connected whole, not a rigid status quo to be blindly followed. With this comes the understanding that all stakeholders matter — the whole business, the whole community, inclusion of all and even if it may seem unrelated, ESG and technology.
At the helm of a shared and challenging future ahead, the people who will stand out are those who aren’t just bringing the same old skills into the room, but those (in addition to new skill sets) who bring the whole of their personality, vulnerabilities, and humanity too. We don’t just need directors who are competent at their jobs, but competent at being human beings (the two are not synonymous!).
I get it, though.
The boardroom is a complex place. It can be political, lonely and foreboding. The demands are getting greater. And it feels as though it can be set up as an environment where vulnerability and huge curiosity are frowned upon – liabilities because they ‘create culpability’.
It’s this mindset, though, that shoots most boards in the feet. Because, to link this obtusely back to the PwC scandal mentioned at the start if we were just more human in our roles as board members – more conscious, more emotionally intelligent and skilled up – we’d be more honest and more authentic, more often, to have the discussions and make the decisions that don’t erode trust or fail society.
The Future Directors Hub is a space to develop this modern and holistic form of board leadership in an intentional way to support your lifelong board journey - whether fresh-faced enthusiasts or wise-old veterans. To connect and learn from passionate peers, skill up when you want, and come for advice at any junction of your board career.
I warmly extend you an invitation.
It’s by being in a mindset to ask new questions in the boardroom that will steward your organisation through the new and amorphous challenges ahead of us. So ask… who are you outside of work?