1st Edition
The Art and Psychology of Board Relationships The Secret Life of Boards
The relationships within boards can make or break an organisation, but well-functioning relationships take skill and effort to maintain. This book looks at the psychology behind individual and group behaviour and offers tactics and power tools to help make a success of your board career.
The book shares advice and practical tips from 40 experienced board members from the worlds of corporates, the public sector and charities on how to spot and manage complex dynamics. And each chapter ends with techniques for unlocking tricky board relationships that you can put into practice immediately. The authors examine case studies and explore topics such as psychodynamics, cognitive behavioural psychology and neuroscience for insights into how boards react under pressure. They then demonstrate how to practise the ART of managing board relationships by increasing Awareness, Relating constructively to others, and choosing Tactics to ease tensions and foster collaboration.
The Art and Psychology of Board Relationships: The Secret Life of Boards reveals why board relationships lie at the heart of organisational success – and how you can use them to gain competitive edge. It is essential reading for current and aspiring board members, coaches, facilitators and anyone with an interest in boardroom dynamics.
Biography
Joy Harcup is an executive coach with 20 years’ experience working with clients in the FTSE 100, public and not-for-profit sectors. A former lawyer specialising in dispute resolution, she has an MBA from Bath University. Joy was President of the UK Board of the International Coaching Federation, the largest global professional body for coaches.
Helen Hopper trained in management consultancy with Accenture, and in occupational psychology with SHL, before co-founding leadership consulting firm h3 in 2010, where she is a Partner. She has degrees in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (Oxford University), and in Psychology (The Open University). She is an active supporter of mental health charities, most recently as COO of The Listening Place, and Trustee at The Mix.
"Boards have never been under more pressure to provide oversight and perspective. Even the most vigilant board members can be blind to relationship dynamics; knowing what is really going on is a constant challenge. This book is a wonderful way for executives and boards to develop better ways to collaborate, challenge and converge on strategies to guide them through unchartered futures."
Margaret Heffernan, CEO and Author Wilful Blindness.
"There’s a very fine line between boards where the sum of the parts adds up to materially more than the individuals, and those with real and fundamental issues. Small changes can result in big differences, but spotting what to change and knowing how to change it isn’t easy. This book brings some real science to this topic, as well as sharing the authors’ extensive experience to help us make sure we live on the right side of that very fine line."
Jeff Dodds, Virgin Media O2's Chief Operating Officer, Charity and Public Sector Non-Executive Director.
"The Secret Life of Boards is grounded in psychological and neuroscientific knowledge, real life stories and case studies from Board members and plenty of practical, simple, yet powerful tools and strategies. This is a valuable resource for any Board member and is also a very interesting read!"
Tracy Sinclair, MCC, International Coaching Federation, Global Board Past Chair.
"Boards have a formal life as regulated bodies charged with governance oversight. What makes them tick, successfully or unsuccessfully, is the quality and character of the web of relationships they create. The Secret Life of Boards gets to the heart of this with illuminating insights into the reality of the boardroom. A must-read for everybody interested in building successful organisations."
Ian Durant, Chair, Britvic plc; Chair, Warren Partners; former Chair, Greggs plc, DFS plc and Capital and Counties Properties plc, Ealing Swimming Club.
"This book starts from a very important premise – whatever positions of importance board members have, they are first and foremost individuals, with all the psychological complexity this entails. If such individuals work together in groups, the complexity and unpredictability in this mix multiplies. Being in awe of those important positions is a recipe for becoming blind to what can go wrong with boards. This book takes off this veil of awe and describes the human side of boards in a clear, informative and caring way."
Tatiana Bachkirova, Professor of Coaching Psychology, Oxford Brookes University.
"The best hospitals in the NHS communicate from “board to ward” and back again. They keep each other in the loop and recognise how hard it is to deliver universal healthcare in a system where demand often exceeds supply. As with most of life, good relationships are critical to success. This excellent book tells us how to grow them, at board level and beyond. Collaboration is the key, but it can only thrive in a culture that encourages the freedom to speak up and acts on concerns that are raised. And that has to start at board level. It’s not always easy, but The Art and Psychology of Board Relationships - an elegant mix of science and experience - shows us that it can be done."
Phil Hammond, Doctor, Journalist, Broadcaster and Author of Staying Alive – How to Improve Your Health and Your Healthcare.
"An invaluable tool to understand board dynamics at any level. A board is the brain of any organisation, but also its pulsating heart. Rationality counts for nothing if there are conflicts, misunderstandings, and lack of confidence. To know what is really going on can be the make or break of an organisation. This book reminds us that we are all humans, prone to make decisions based on our life experiences and, by gently guiding us to understand ourselves, it unfolds the key for us to be better functioning board members."
Paola Barbarino, CEO of Alzheimer’s Disease International, and Public Sector and Charity Non-Executive Director.
