I am often asked by board chairs for suggestions on reading materials that will help enhance the effectiveness of their board. I thought today’s blog post would be a good opportunity to share several of these suggestions.
- Start-Ups: Startup Boards: Getting the Most Out of Your Board of Directors by Brad Feld and Mahendra Ramsinghani. This book is part of the Startup Revolution Series and should be considered a must-read by any entrepreneur and their board members.
- Non-Profits: What College Trustees Need to Know: Important Questions Sometimes Asked too Late … or Never at All by George Matthews, Norman Smith and Bryan Carlson. Although this book is aimed at college trustees, the lessons contained in this book are relevant to almost every type of board representing a non-profit organization.
- Private Companies: Game-Changing Advisory Boards by William Hawfield and John Zaepfel. This is a fantastic resource for private business owners looking to establish an advisory board as well as the advisory board members they recruit.
- Public Corporations: Boards That Lead by Ram Charan, Dennis Carey and Mike Useem. This is a fantastic book which draws from examples of the boards of major corporations and provides guidance on how directors can lead in partnership with management.
Corporations at every level should engage in some form of annual “Board Development” – a chance for the directors to step-back from the business, assess how they are doing collectively as a board and discuss/learn how they can improve upon their performance . And although board excellence can only be achieved by a concerted effort from each individual director to want to work together in the best interests of the corporation’s stakeholders, the above resources can serve as a great inspiration to that end.