A board does not need another trends presentation. It needs someone who will challenge management's working assumptions, with no stake in the outcome. A good board advisor brings questions nobody else brought into the room.
Questions to ask a candidate:
- Do they work with a defined decision question, or show the same presentation to every client?
- Do they connect fields: geopolitics, macroeconomics, technology and regulation?
- Do they present scenarios, including one that breaks the plan, instead of a single forecast?
- Do they have a legal or economic background that lets them speak the language of directors?
Dr. Bella Barda-Bareket gives strategic briefings to management teams and boards before significant decisions. She has been an attorney since 2004, holds an LL.M in Law and Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam, and has written columns in the financial press since 2020. A Strategic Intelligence Lab briefing lasts 60 to 90 minutes and ends with a map of forces, early signals and must-answer questions before the vote.