Boards: one of your biggest assets, or a quiet constraint - download your guide


​

Boards: one of your biggest assets, or a quiet constraint - download your guide

Dear Reader

Most boards are not broken.

But many are not operating as effectively as they could.

And because governance issues often build slowly, the impact can be easy to miss:

  • Decisions slow down
  • Important conversations happen too late
  • Challenge becomes inconsistent
  • Accountability blurs
  • Tension builds quietly between governance and management

At their best, boards materially improve the quality of decisions, strengthen leadership, and help organisations navigate complexity and scale.

At their worst, they become a source of friction and drag.

I have written about boards before, but it remains one of the topics CEOs ask me about most often.

Not in theory.

In practice.

How do I make my board more useful?
How do I work effectively with my Chair?
How do we evolve the board as the organisation changes?
How do we handle succession, CEO performance, compensation, and strategy properly?
How do we move beyond passive governance into real strategic partnership?

So I have pulled together a practical Volante guide:

Working More Effectively with Your Board

The guide includes:

  • A Board Effectiveness Diagnostic
  • Board composition and renewal
  • Chair–CEO relationships
  • Better board meetings and governance rhythms
  • Strategic topic sessions
  • CEO performance and succession
  • Risk oversight and financial sustainability
  • Board culture, challenge, and accountability

It is grounded in operational experience working with CEOs, boards, and leadership teams through periods of growth, transition, scale, funding pressure, and increasing complexity.

You can download the guide here:

One reflection question I would leave you with:

👉 Is your board helping the organisation think ahead, or mainly reviewing the present?

Warmly,
​Liz​
​Strategic Advisor | Former CEO | Founder, Volante

Based in Kenya, available globally

Volante Consulting Kenya

Read more from Volante Consulting Kenya

Leaders don't have to have all the answers On the leader we think we should be, the value of thinking space, and why leadership can still be lonely Dear Reader, I recently came across a quote that has stayed with me: “Your leadership style is the projection of the movie you are playing in your head.” I thought: wow. And then I started wondering what movie was playing in my head when I first became a CEO. I think, for quite a long time, it was some version of fake it till you make it. Possibly...

What are we changing, and what are we losing? Some reflections on AI, early career learning and what we are really looking for when we hire leaders. Dear Reader, I was talking with someone recently about the start of my career, which was, slightly alarmingly, more than 30 years ago. I was on a graduate scheme with a multinational food manufacturer. One of my first jobs was dealing with customer complaints. People would sometimes send the actual product back, and I had to work out what had...

We may be making hiring harder than it needs to be Better hiring isn't about eliminating risk. It is about getting better evidence and learning from the decisions we make. Dear Reader, Last week, I wrote about some of the hardest people decisions CEOs face once someone is already in the organisation. This week, I want to look at what happens before they get there. Hiring is one of the hardest parts of leadership. It is also something I think many organisations make more complicated than it...