Building Better Boards: How to lead and succeed in a changing world

Seamus Gillen's book "Building Better Boards" examines the true role of governance as a driver of high-quality strategic decision-making, which can help an organization achieve its strategic objectives more efficiently and effectively. He believes that governance is a commercial discipline, providing a fundamental underpin to the process of value creation, value protection, and value preservation. The book emphasizes that governance is a live issue, an ongoing priority area of board focus, with developments occurring around the world on a daily basis. It offers new models and approaches based on real-life experience to help boards and directors lead and succeed in a changing world.

Format: Hardback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 07 July 2022
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

The true role of governance as a driver of high-quality strategic decision-making is a critical topic that can help organizations achieve their strategic objectives more efficiently and effectively. Many boards approach governance from a compliance perspective, which leaves value on the table. When boards complain that "we're spending too much time on governance," they are usually referring to compliance rather than value creation. A compliance focus leads to an emphasis on governance as an area of subject-matter expertise, a cost, an overhead, a back-office activity, something that has to be done to satisfy regulation and Code. This manifests itself through a culture of box-ticking, where directors and senior management perceive and derive little value from the exercise.

Seamus Gillen, however, believes that governance is a commercial discipline, providing a fundamental underpin to the process of value creation, value protection, and value preservation. Governance drives the quality of strategic decision-making that helps organizations achieve their strategic objectives more efficiently and effectively. High standards of governance create competitive advantage, a concept that applies to not-for-profits and public sector bodies as well as commercial entities. For organizations pursuing this approach, governance becomes a liberating theology and a critical business enabler.

Building Better Boards, a book by Seamus Gillen, resonates with professionals operating across international jurisdictions and is inclusive rather than exclusive. The book emphasizes that governance is a live issue, an ongoing priority area of board focus, with developments occurring around the world on a daily basis. It identifies good practice and progressive thinking across sectors and geographies. It builds on the work of previous authors and provides a comprehensive framework for effective governance.

In conclusion, governance is a critical component of effective strategic decision-making and can help organizations achieve their goals more efficiently and effectively. A compliance perspective may leave value on the table
table, but a commercial discipline approach can provide a fundamental underpin to the process of value creation, value protection, and value preservation. Building Better Boards provides a comprehensive framework for effective governance and is a valuable resource for professionals operating across international jurisdictions.

Weight: 568g
Dimension: 162 x 242 x 29 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781399400954