Getting Your Board Dynamics Right and Keeping Them Right

Insights from Gerry Lynch, Director at Govn365

Most boards think their dynamics are fine – until a crisis, a strategic misstep, or a key executive walks out and everyone realises the conversations in the boardroom weren’t as healthy as they seemed.

In our recent Govn365 webinar, “Getting Your Board Dynamics Right and Keeping Them Right”, Professor Brad Jackson unpacked how the best boards intentionally design their dynamics not just their agendas. Using his “C’s of Governance” model, he showed how great boards get four big areas right: 

• Board structures – configuration & compliance
  Are your board and committee structures configured for your current strategy, and are they genuinely compliant – or just technically compliant?
• Board demographics – capacity, capability & connections
  Do your directors have the time, skills and networks to add real value… or are you over-relying on a couple of voices while others sit quietly on the sidelines?
• Board attributes – competence, commitment & character
  Are directors well-prepared, engaged and willing to lean into tough issues – even when it’s uncomfortable?
• Board dynamics – cohesion & constructive challenge
  Does your board model a culture where trust and psychological safety co-exist with robust debate? Or do you swing between overly “nice” and unproductively combative?

Good dynamics start well before the meeting
Healthy boardroom conversations are built through:

• Clear expectations of the Chair and directors (behaviours, prep, and follow-through)
• Intentional agenda design that balances hindsight, insight and foresight
• Pre-work that surfaces data and options before you’re around the table

You need both cohesion and challenge
Brad’s simple test:

• Too much cohesion without challenge → cosy complacency
• Too much challenge without cohesion → political point-scoring
• The sweet spot → courageous, curious conversations focused on what’s best for the organisation and its stakeholders

Dynamics show up in the ‘micro-moments’
Watch for:

• Who speaks first, most, and last
• How dissent is handled – is it explored or shut down?
• Whether quieter directors are invited in – especially on sensitive issues
• How quickly the conversation jumps to “solutions” before fully defining the problem

Great boards keep an eye on Horizon 2 & 3
High-performing boards don’t let compliance crowd out future focus. They regularly:

• Create explicit space on the agenda for emerging risks and opportunities
• Ask, “What needs to be true for us to win in Horizon 2 & 3?”
• Invite external perspectives where the board has gaps in its “C’s” (capability, connections, context)

Dynamics are a governance risk and a lever
Poor board dynamics are rarely named on the risk register, but they sit behind many strategic failures. The boards that improve fastest:

• Treat dynamics as something to be measured, discussed and improved
• Use independent diagnostics to reveal blind spots, not to “blame” individuals
• Commit to practical action plans – and come back to them, meeting after meeting

 Key Takeaways: 

• Prep drives performance: clear expectations, good pre-work, smart agendas.
• Cohesion + challenge: trust and healthy disagreement.
• Micro-moments matter: who speaks, how dissent lands, whose voices are missing.
• Future focus wins: protect time for Horizons 2 & 3.
• Dynamics are a lever: measure them, name them, improve them.

Where Govn365 fits

Govn365 helps boards turn these insights into action.

• It gives you a structured, evidence-based view across all the key governance areas, including board composition, capability and dynamics
• It surfaces gaps and blind spots that aren’t obvious from around the table
• It translates the findings into clear priorities and action plans – so you can keep your board dynamics right, not just hope they stay that way

If you’d like to see how your board stacks up against Brad’s “C’s” and where your biggest opportunities lie, let’s talk.