Latest news with #strategicgovernance
Forbes
5 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Why Board Dynamics Matter: Seven Key Considerations For Effectiveness
Susana Sierra is CEO of BH Compliance, which measures the effectiveness of corporate governance programs, and corporate governance. How prepared are boards of directors to face today's increasingly uncertain and demanding global environment? Answering this question is key, given the strategic role boards play in companies. And the answer lies in each member's individual experience as well as their ability to function effectively as a team. The way board members interact, how they make decisions and how power is distributed should not be left to chance. Synergy among all members and the commitment of each individual are crucial to ensuring the board's effectiveness and successfully addressing current challenges through strong and resilient governance. This is what is known as board dynamics, and it is a critical factor for business performance. Hence the importance of having people who, in addition to being professionally prepared and capable of contributing individual knowledge, have teamwork skills and contribute to a dynamic, thoughtful and strategic board. Well-structured board dynamics must include the ability to constructively challenge management, make informed and deliberate decisions, promote diversity of thought and avoid both the concentration of power and stagnation. To achieve good board dynamics, here are my seven key considerations: 1. Ensure a balance between seniority and renewal. It is essential to maintain an equilibrium between the experience of those who have served on the board for a longer period of time and the fresh contribution of new members. This combines in-depth business knowledge with renewed perspectives. It is also important to prevent long-standing members from hoarding power or leadership solely because they have held the position longer. Therefore, clear and established mechanisms must be in place to ensure regular board member turnover. 2. Periodically change chairs and key positions. Leadership roles should be rotated for both the board as a whole and committees, to avoid entrenched power dynamics and prevent directors from expecting automatic reappointments. Egos and competition for greater power can hinder the group's ability to collaborate. 3. Define leadership structure. Boards must establish a leadership structure, meaning they must clearly define who takes on the role of coordinating and guiding the group's work. Independent directors should be included, as their presence allows for greater objectivity, diversity of opinions and openness to debate. 4. Conduct continuous evaluations. It is essential that evaluations of the board be carried out, both as a collegiate body, and of its members individually. Ideally, these should be conducted regularly, by an external party. Furthermore, the results of these evaluations should be translated into concrete actions for the short, medium, and long term. 5. Maintain communication with investors. Maintaining frequent, transparent and responsive engagement with investors' concerns is key to building trust, preventing conflict and aligning expectations. 6. Supervise succession plans. Companies must clearly establish succession plans for the CEO and key executives. As part of this dynamic, the board of directors plays a key role in reviewing, approving and updating the plan, as well as identifying emerging talent. 7. Be informed and create action plans. The company's performance and results in various external indicators should not merely be reported to the board of directors, but become a topic of discussion in their meetings. The results should also trigger concrete action plans. Achieving good board dynamics requires all of these key elements. Having a diverse, cohesive and qualified team that works together toward a common purpose, challenges itself and operates under defined policies that allow for a clear and fluid dynamic results in a competitive advantage. This helps companies respond more quickly and decisively to the demands of today's rapidly changing world. Today, leadership is more important than ever. Knowledge is no longer enough; boldness, resilience and new skills are required. Companies need directors who don't just sit in a chair but are capable of viewing the landscape in all its complexity; who exercise a strategic, comprehensive perspective; and, above all, who are willing to listen, question and adapt. So, let's ask ourselves the question once again: How prepared are boards to face today's increasingly uncertain and demanding global environment? Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
Fast Company
7 days ago
- Business
- Fast Company
4 ways boards of directors can leverage AI for better meetings
Last month, I watched a board chair spend 20 minutes hunting through a 200-page packet for a single financial metric mentioned in passing three meetings ago. The CEO quietly sat there, tapping his pen; the other directors checked their phones. Meanwhile, the clock ticked by what should have been a strategic discussion about market expansion. If you've ever sat in a boardroom, you know this scene. Board meetings often devolve into information archaeology instead of strategic governance. But with artificial intelligence (AI) changing how we work, it can help revolutionize how boards govern. 1. TURN INFORMATION OVERLOAD INTO STRATEGIC INSIGHTS Picture this: Sarah, a board chair at a mid-sized manufacturing company, spent her Sunday afternoons prepping for the next day's board meeting and drowning in materials. Quarterly reports, compliance updates, risk assessments, CEO briefings—the stack never seemed to shrink. Oftentimes, Sarah arrived at the meetings still in information overload. AI technology could alleviate this issue by digesting and synthesizing all the relevant information for the meeting. The right tool can read through every document, identify key themes and flag potential concerns. It could also create personalized briefings for each director based on their expertise and committee assignments. For example, the marketing expert can receive insights on customer trends, while the finance veteran sees deep dives into cash flow patterns—or vice versa, depending on the director's support needs. The result? Everyone arrives prepared, and meetings start with strategic discussions instead of information downloads. To leverage AI for data synthesis, start with one document type, like quarterly reports or compliance updates. Have your tool create summaries that highlight the top three insights, two potential concerns, and one recommended action for each director. 2. MAKE MEETING PREPARATION ACTUALLY WORK Something that happens far too frequently is board members receiving a 50- to 200-slide presentation at 9 p.m. the night before the meeting. Directors only have time to skim it over, so half the meeting gets wasted on questions like, 'Can you go back to slide 12?' and, 'What was that number again?' A good friend of mine, who serves as a professional board advisor, explained to me how can AI change this dynamic entirely. His company works with CEOs to complete board decks eight days ahead of time, then uploads the presentations into the company's AI-powered platform. The system reviews all presentation materials and generates a list of likely questions based on each director's background and past meeting contributions. The management team gets these questions 48 hours before the meeting, allowing them to prepare thoughtful responses or gather additional data. Before your next board meeting, try uploading your presentation materials to an AI platform that can analyze content and predict discussion points. Most modern tools can do this with basic prompts like, 'What questions would a former CFO likely ask about this financial projection?' or, 'Which aspects of this strategy would concern a director with retail experience?' 3. CAPTURE DECISIONS & ACTIONS THAT ACTUALLY STICK Every board secretary knows the post-meeting scramble. Who committed to what? When was that follow-up due? What exactly did we decide about the acquisition timeline? The problem with traditional meeting minutes is that they capture words, but they miss context, nuance and the reasoning behind decisions. AI can take on that heavy lifting. Beyond transcribing what was said, it's able to identify decisions, extract commitments and even flag when discussions contradict previous board positions. This information can be turned into three distinct documents: straightforward minutes for the legal record, comprehensive notes for the management team and an action tracker. Find an AI tool that can transcribe your next meeting, then ask it to pull out all action items and decisions. Compare that to your traditional minutes. You'll be amazed at what you've been missing. 4. SPOT RISKS BEFORE THEY BECOME CRISES The best boards don't just respond to problems. They anticipate them. But human pattern recognition has limits, especially when dealing with complex, interconnected business risks across multiple meetings and documents. I'm on the board of a consumer-based company where, within a six-month period, three different risk reports mentioned supply chain 'flexibility challenges,' customer satisfaction scores showed upticks in delivery complaints, and the CFO's commentary increasingly mentioned 'inventory optimization.' Individually, these seemed like normal business issues. But together, they signaled a potential supply chain crisis. While traditional board oversight might have caught this eventually, it likely would've been after customer complaints started affecting revenue. Thankfully, the AI system we had in place was able to connect these dots across multiple meetings and documents, allowing the board to address supply chain vulnerabilities before they became front-page problems. The key is feeding your AI system all board-related documents, including meeting minutes, risk reports, financial statements and management presentations. Have it look for recurring themes, escalating concerns or contradictory information across time periods. Remember, you're not asking the AI to make decisions. You're having it highlight patterns that the human directors might miss. THE PATH FORWARD The question isn't whether AI will change board governance. It's happening now in the most tech-savvy, efficient boardrooms across the country. The directors who embrace AI know it's a strategic tool for amplifying human judgment. Your board's job is to govern wisely, not demonstrate superhuman information processing abilities. Let AI handle the data so your directors can focus on what they do best: applying experience, wisdom and judgment to guide organizations. The best part? You don't need to transform everything at once. Just pick one area and start there.
The National
18-07-2025
- Business
- The National
The UAE's future cities must be designed to anticipate tomorrow's needs
As the UAE's real estate market matures, so does the expectation of what its cities must deliver. For decades, success in urban development was often measured by speed, scale and sales. But the challenges cities face today – from climate risk to infrastructure strain and changing social expectations – demand more than expansion. They require foresight, integration and a renewed sense of purpose in how we plan, build and manage urban life. Urban development can help tackle some of the most pressing issues of our time: energy efficiency, public health, mobility, water security and inclusivity. Our current landscape demands developing cities that are not only economically viable but environmentally sustainable and socially responsive. In Sharjah, this transition is already visible. In the first quarter of this year, the emirate recorded Dh13.2 billion ($3.59 billion) in real estate transactions – a 31.9 per cent increase year-on-year. This momentum is a reflection of investor confidence, strategic governance and a clear focus on long-term infrastructure planning. It also highlights a key opportunity: to ensure that the rapid pace of growth is matched by a commitment to shaping cities that endure and thrive. One of the clearest lessons from recent years is that real estate can no longer operate in silos. The most effective cities are those that function as complete ecosystems, where utilities, transport, environment, culture and health are connected in meaningful ways. Integration, not innovation alone, is becoming the real differentiator. This thinking is what has guided our work in building Khalid Bin Sultan City, a new development in Sharjah that brings together net-zero-ready infrastructure, smart technology, world-class design, lush neighbourhoods and enriching cultural venues – not as separate features, but as a holistic urban framework. One of the clearest lessons from recent years is that real estate can no longer operate in silos The aim is not to create a showcase, but a working, replicable model: a city of the future designed to be climate-smart, sustainable and people-first from the outset. Here, waste will be collected and treated onsite as well as offsite at circularity facilities within our waste management ecosystem. Smart waste collection will support segregation at the source so that the maximum amount of recyclable waste is recovered and reintroduced into the circular economy. Committed to low-carbon emissions, this city will draw its energy from renewable sources, whether through solar or waste-to-energy systems, and feature resilient infrastructure built to 'Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design' standards. To ease stress on finite supplies, wastewater and rainwater will be completely reused as well. Sustainable urban systems naturally call for a mutual focus on robust innovation. In Khalid Bin Sultan City, a citywide digital twin will allow real-time optimisation of urban operations, facilitating data-backed decision-making to enhance quality of life for residents. Smart apps and platforms will help us serve people more efficiently and transparently, especially when decentralised digital identities will seamlessly tie access across homes, offices and services. People will be the beating heart of the city. A dedicated cultural centre, enhanced by public art dotting the city and a vibrant cultural programming, will spark conversations and inspire dialogue rooted in creativity and heritage. Residents and visitors alike will find canopies of native and adaptive trees shading generous pathways and car-free zones, allowing them to safely explore, interact and connect. Recreational amenities within a walkable distance, health-focused facilities and electric micro-mobility networks will be consciously designed to improve overall accessibility and well-being. These aren't futuristic ideas. They are practical responses to questions modern cities around the world are already being faced with. Questions about how to scale clean energy. How to design for walkability in hot climates. How to ensure that digitalisation enhances public services without increasing complexity. And how to make sustainability not just a compliance box to check off but an embedded outcome. What matters the most is the user – the resident, the visitor, the worker – and how well the city anticipates their needs, removes friction, and supports a balanced, healthy and connected lifestyle. Urban development is increasingly expected to do more than generate short-term returns. It is being asked to deliver against broader mandates: national sustainability goals, knowledge economy targets, public health outcomes and social inclusion. This does not mean real estate is becoming less commercial, rather the market is evolving to reward resilience, impact and adaptability. In the UAE, we are fortunate to have national strategies that provide both direction and ambition – from the Net Zero 2050 Strategy to long-term urban planning frameworks. The responsibility now sits not only with governments but with developers, designers and operators. If we are to build cities that last, we need to start with systems thinking, a holistic approach that embeds sustainability from the start. We need to ensure that new districts are walkable, connected and culturally grounded; we need to look beyond the numbers to treat data as a core tool for better governance and service delivery. Systems thinking also means embracing a wider perspective. Sharjah, for instance, is building with intent to shape an urban identity that is rooted in culture, inclusivity and forward planning. There is room for many models in the UAE's urban landscape. What matters is that each one delivers for the people who will inhabit them. This is what the cities of the future demand. And this is where the opportunity lies – not in more construction, but in better co-ordination. Not in aesthetics alone, but in outcomes that are measurable, meaningful and lasting, beyond tomorrow.
