Board
Does the board hear the truth, or the version it wants to hear?
For chairs and boards after a crisis or a CEO change, after an effectiveness review that named the dynamics but did not change them, and for boards that want to know whether they agree on more than what is on paper.
Sound familiar?
The board agrees on paper. Around the table, it means different things.
Unanimous votes, private doubts
Members agree in the meeting and voice their concerns afterwards, one to one, if at all.
The CEO presents, the board nods
Hard questions arrive late or not at all, and the CEO hears a polite version of what the board thinks.
The review that changed nothing
An effectiveness review named the dynamics. A year later, the meetings feel the same.
Boards usually call us after a crisis, a CEO change, a merger, or before a strategy cycle.
What we offer boards
From a first diagnostic to a board that speaks with one voice.
Board diagnostic
Confidential interviews with each member and a short survey show where the board truly agrees on mission, strategy, risk and what success looks like, and where it only believes it does. Interviews beyond the board, across levels of the organization, show what actually arrives of the board’s message: why strategies stall, and why risks and fears never reach the board.
Board dynamics session or retreat
A facilitated session on board dynamics: how the board works together and with the executive team, where tension sits, and what holds the truth back from traveling up, down or across. Often part of an annual retreat, and the natural place to work with what the diagnostic found.
Board performance and norming
Each member completes the Leadership Circle Profile. In facilitated sessions the board agrees how it debates, decides and holds the CEO to account, and sees what each member brings to the table under pressure. Group peer coaching, through a systems-psychodynamic lens, builds the trust that real debate, discussion and dialogue need.
Certified Leadership Circle Profile practitionerFrom paper to practice
A strategy paper records what was agreed. We work on what each member actually means by it until the board speaks with one voice, then translate that shared meaning into clarity, action and accountability in the executive team and the organization.
How a board engagement runs
Diagnose. Mirror. Norm. Translate.
- 01DiagnoseConfidential interviews with each member and a short survey on mission, strategy, risk and success.
- 02MirrorOne board session with the findings: where the board truly agrees, and where it only believes it does.
- 03NormWith the Leadership Circle Profile, the board agrees how it debates, decides and holds the CEO to account.
- 04TranslateWhat the board now means by the strategy becomes what the executive team and the organization do differently.
board members said they largely agreed on what success looks like by 2030.
From a recent board diagnostic
Asked to define it, they gave five different answers.
That gap does not show up in minutes or votes. It shows up in the executive team, which receives five versions of the same strategy. The diagnostic makes it visible, so the board can close it before the organization pays for it.
We mistook nodding for alignment and polished reporting for reality. The Human Space revealed how our different interpretations became conflicting messages to executives, and how bad news was being shaped around what they thought we wanted to hear. We recognised the risk of governing through a filtered reality.
Is your board hearing the truth? Start with a short call with Linda, who sets up the right conversation with Daniela.
Book a first callQuestions leaders ask
Before we start
What is a board diagnostic?
Confidential interviews with each board member and a short survey show where the board truly agrees on mission, strategy, risk and what success looks like, and where it only believes it does. The findings come back to the full board in one session, without names.
Why would a board that votes unanimously need this?
Because agreement on paper is not the same as shared meaning. In a recent board diagnostic, 5 of 5 members said they largely agreed on what success looks like by 2030. Asked to define it, they gave five different answers. The executive team then receives five versions of the same strategy.
When do boards usually call you?
After a crisis, a CEO change or a merger, before a strategy cycle, or when an effectiveness review named the dynamics but a year later the meetings feel the same.
How do you price your work?
As fixed fees per phase. You decide after each phase whether to continue, so you never commit to more than you have seen work.
Do you work outside Switzerland?
Yes. With our clients we go everywhere: across Europe and to the US, in English and German.
How confidential is this?
Completely. Interviews are anonymized, and we never share what one person said with another without their consent.
How do you measure progress?
With the same measures before and after: psychological safety, trust in leadership, alignment and execution, energy and engagement.
Who does the work?
Daniela leads every engagement, with a small team of experienced facilitators and coaches from our network.