It’s time for a Skills Based Approach for the Board Rooms, by Sofia Falk

"Skills-based" is a trendy term, but how can it be applied to the role of the chairperson of the board? In this article, written by Sofia Falk, you can learn more about the skill-based approach in the boardroom and discover the crucial skills necessary for an effective chairperson.

The winner of this spring’s buzzword bingo in the fields of HR, People & Culture/People & Growth, Organizational Design, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging is the phrase “Skills-Based Approach.”

In brief, it involves moving away from traditional role descriptions and résumés to focus on identifying, developing, and utilizing the specific skills employees need to perform their roles effectively.

This paradigm shift promises to significantly impact the field of Inclusion and Diversity and, most importantly, the presence of high-performing teams capable of thriving in an increasingly complex and diverse world. Organizations must not only anticipate industry trends but also swiftly adapt, pivot if necessary, and maintain financial stability to ensure growth and a healthy bottom line.

However, it seems this approach is rarely applied in boardrooms. As an interim Chief People Officer/Chief People and Culture Officer and Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer, I have observed this firsthand. This mindset appears to be reserved for everyone below the board of directors.

The heroes in the boardroom, consciously or unconsciously, master the skills to secure diverse representation and foster high levels of inclusion capacity. Beyond governance and strategy (knowledge that can be learned), a great chairperson must possess skills, approaches, and a mindset that takes longer to develop.

What if we applied a skills-based approach to the role of Chairperson of the Board? As a subject matter expert in Inclusion and Diversity, having worked with over 100 boards and recently certified through deb.’s Chairperson of the Board course, I believe the following skills are crucial:

  1. Actively Promote Diversity in Board Composition: Ensure a mix of personalities, cultural backgrounds, genders, ages, and professional backgrounds. Diverse boards are more innovative and better equipped to tackle complex problems and identify trends from multiple angles.

  2. Be an Excellent Listener: Cultivate the ability to genuinely listen to each member's viewpoints, acknowledging and valuing their contributions. This builds a culture of respect and trust which in turn enables each member of the board to contribute with a broader spectrum of ideas and perspectives. 

  3. Maintain an Open-Minded Approach: Encourage debates and discussions without prejudice to foster a richer decision-making process.

  4. Promote Psychological Safety: Ensure members feel safe to express their ideas without fear of ridicule or retribution. Providing a space where everyone feels respected, encouraged and capable of voicing ideas, sharing opinions, and contributing to discussions as their authentic self will help the board make better informed decisions.

     

  5. Ensure All Voices Are Heard: Invite quieter members, or people that need more time to think and reflect before they speak, to share their thoughts. Prevent dominant personalities from overshadowing others, and use structured methods to get everyone's perspective and ideas on the table.

  6. Master Conflict Mediation: Resolve conflicts constructively by understanding different viewpoints, finding common ground, and facilitating compromise. A diverse team naturally brings varied perspectives and approaches, leading to frequent conflicts.

Sofia Falk

Inclusion & Diversity Thought Leader. Tactical Advisor. + 15 years experience in +100 companies worldwide as People & Culture, Collaboration and Organizational Design strategist.

Sofia’s niche expertise lies within Inclusion & Diversity, Collaboration and Change. She uncovers dysfunctional aspects of structures, culture, ways of working and staff and then realigns them to fit the required complexity of the business with the purpose to increase and sustain high performance and maximum economic value. So far, she has helped more than 100 global heavy industries, banks, law- and professional service firms, tech companies, the retail industry as well as start- and scale ups (each one employing between 20 to 200 000 employees, operating in more than 80 markets around the globe).

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