Succeeding in today’s corporate and not-for-profit boardrooms is tougher than ever before, with new and established board directors facing myriad new and rapidly globalizing governance challenges. Directors and aspiring board candidates need a survival guide to beat the odds and avoid crises-the best credentials and the best of intentions aren’t enough. This book is that guide.

Board Games: Straight Talk for New Directors and Good Governance is an essential resource for any current or aspiring board director. It identifies the issues directors are most likely to face in today’s rapidly changing, potentially hazardous business environments, offering candid, well-informed insights that address emerging issues, potential conflicts, and real-board situations. Readers will learn how to be more effective, more informed, and more diligent directors committed to the shareholders’ best interests-even if that mindset challenges the interests of current management.

This book shows new directors on any board how the current systems of financial reporting, regulatory compliance, and crisis management work, serving as a playbook that can help them serve the corporate good while protecting themselves-and do the right thing for shareholders, employees, customers, and communities they serve. The authors apply their extensive experience at the top of various corporations and nonprofit organizations to identify the behind-the-scenes, boardroom-culture issues that can trip up any director and demonstrate the critical importance of committing to the right governance, due diligence, and independent oversight.

Supplies frank advice and straight talk for current board directors and future directors that warn of the various kinds of troubling developments that can arise in and outside the boardroom

Breaks down the core requirements, expectations, and commitments directors must make to protect shareholders based on the coauthors’ deep and varied board and executive leadership experience

Provides a roadmap for anyone who wants to serve on a board or advisory board-be it for a company, institution, not-for-profit, or government or community organization-or those who currently serve on boards but need guidance and advice

Explains why most boards aren’t more diverse and what today’s directors can and should do to rectify this issue