Leadership Lounge: How to Be an Effective Board Director When Everything is On Fire

When a crisis hits, the rhythm of your work as a board director shifts immediately. Scheduled meetings give way to urgent calls. You are pulled into conversations at short notice, often with incomplete information, weighing in on issues you would usually have weeks to consider. Management is under pressure, making rapid decisions, and looking to you for support—or at minimum, for reassurance that they are on the right track.

Yet the fundamentals of your role have not changed. You are still required to provide oversight, not to manage the business. The challenge lies in knowing when to lean in and when to step back.

The most effective directors understand this distinction instinctively. They stay calm when others are reactive. And they know how to ask questions that sharpen thinking rather than second-guess it.

What key skills do you need to hone as a board director in moments of volatility?

Ted Dysart, Leadership Advisor, RRA: One key trait is being able to ask the right questions, in the right way. Directors are there for oversight on behalf of shareholders, but also to make the management team better. If a director goes into a meeting and starts asking questions that feel like a trap, the management will shut down. These conversations are a dance. It's important that directors build and maintain excellent relationships with their C-suite and fellow directors.

How do you decide when to step in versus when to let management handle decisions?

Gwenael Quere, Leadership Advisor, RRA: It's really important for you to remember that you’re not an executive. You do, however, have an important and active role to play in moments of volatility. It's important that you make yourself available to the executive team when required. The board chair has a particularly pivotal role to play. Their role is to act as a sounding board but also to leverage the other board members' expertise.

How do you manage your time and energy as a board director during periods of sustained uncertainty?

Ted Dysart, Leadership Advisor, RRA: Before taking on a board role, you need to think through how you will manage your time. If you're on three or more boards, one of your boards is likely to be in some form of crisis all the time. That could be an M&A issue, it could be an unexpected CEO transition, or it could be a regulatory event. In the case of the COVID pandemic, all companies were put into crisis at the same time. You need to figure out how you're going to delegate responsibilities to your key committees and board leaders. And then you need to ensure you’re up to speed on the important work that those subgroups are handling.

How do you ensure that you learn from the crises you go through as a board director?

Ted Dysart, Leadership Advisor, RRA: The learning that happens after a sustained period of volatility is often more valuable than the response during it. But without structured reflection, those lessons get lost. You need to evaluate your individual contribution. “Where did I add value?” and “Where could I have been more effective?” In addition to your own performance, make sure that the board reflects on overall board dynamics and information flow—what worked well, and what needs to change the next time. The board should also document key decisions and their rationale while they're fresh. This becomes institutional memory that helps the board perform better in the future. As Winston Churchill once said, "Never let a good crisis go to waste."

About the authors

Theodore L. Dysart is a managing director with Russell Reynolds, focused on placing board members and CEOs.
Gwenael Quere is a member of the firm's Board and CEO Advisory Partners. She is based in London.