4.
Root Out Dysfunction
Almost all directors look promising before they enter the boardroom, but not all perform equally well once inside. Sometimes a prince in other realms can even turn into a petty gabber at the table, the very opposite of what English novelist George Eliot had championed: “Blessed is the man who having nothing to say abstains from giving wordy evidence of the fact.”
Consider the case of director Frank Whyte (as we’ll call him): “You show a 3 percent increase in productivity,” Whyte snapped at the executive vice president of the largest division of a very successful consumer-goods company and likely CEO successor. The executive was in the middle of a routine presentation to the board. “You’re sandbagging,” barked the director. ...
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