The Board as a Team | Petri Hofste, Non-Executive Director

The Better Boards Podcast Series

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The Board as a Team may be a surprising topic. Are Boards of Directors individuals in a group or a Team? If the Board is a team, who is on the team - the Execs, the Non-Executives, or both? The academic literature and practitioners are ambiguous about whether a Board is a team or not.

In this podcast, Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Founder and Managing Partner of Better Boards, discusses the concept of the Board as a team with Petri Hofste. Petri was for several years the No. 1 NED in the Netherlands (according to the independent analysis annually conducted by Management Scope). After a successful career as a CFO, she embarked on a portfolio career. She serves on leading organisations in the Netherlands. For her, it is vital that the Board is a team.

"A diverse Board means that in order to make it work, you have to work harder"

"The starting point is truly being interested in each other, as well as in the task at hand"

"Ensure that you focus on the right issues, and also ensure that you do not focus and do not discuss what doesn't need to be discussed"

"It generally works best if company secretaries really ensure to team up with the chairs"

"If you do not like being on a Board. If you do not feel connected to the other people on the Boards, how can you bring the best in yourself to that Board?"

The three top takeaways for effective Boards from our conversation are:

1. A Board needs to invest in being a team.

2. Understanding where people come from and bringing forward the strengths of every individual as well as the strengths of the team is worthwhile. This investment needs to be on the personal and organisational levels.

3. Board members owe the companies they serve and society to bring the best out of each individual on a Board.