High Performance Boards

IMD Business School

Governance

About Programme

Board education is key to growing excellent individuals into great value-adding board members, and transforming a group of individuals into a board that is a major competitive advantage for a company.

High Performance Boards is IMD’s flagship program for board directors. It is inspired by the latest research conducted by the IMD Global Board Center and the world’s best boards. The program draws on nearly five decades of board education experience at IMD to offer you an in-depth exploration of issues related to board performance and effectiveness. You will broaden your skills as you familiarize yourself with the latest tools and frameworks for enhancing your board’s performance – as well as your own.

Alongside board members and prominent chairpersons from around the world, you will learn about successes and failures and explore governance best practices. You will identify the strategies, structures, and processes that make boards the driving force behind corporate success, and build a solid network of global peers.

This program can be taken as a standalone experience, or as a step toward the IMD Board Director Diploma – equipping you to navigate key board challenges and elevate your governance impact.

Optimize board performance

Identify best practices and gain the tools to implement them to maximize board effectiveness.

Foster a positive board culture

Cultivate a constructive and collaborative board environment for enhanced board governance.

Ensure seamless succession

Strategically plan and manage leadership transitions for long-term success.

Manage risks, opportunities and crises

Evaluate risks and opportunities, and master crisis management techniques.

Elevate your board’s strategic capacity

Enhance the strategic capability of your board.

Programme Content

Pre-program

Before the program starts

You have the opportunity to discuss your specific needs and expectations with the Program Director and list the challenges your board is facing. This will enable you to formulate your learning objectives to ensure that you fully benefit from the program.

Core program

On campus, 3-day program over 4 days

You explore concepts, frameworks, and approaches for assessing board performance and understanding the levers to transform your board through your contribution as a director.

IMD faculty and high-level directors discuss the implications of world-class research and case studies during interactive sessions. Leading board members and chairpeople from global organizations share their insights, and you exchange best practices, experiences, and insights with fellow participants. You apply your learning during experiential exercises.

Key topics include:

The four pillars of effective boards

Best practices and behaviors of leading boards

Best risk practices for boards

The board’s role in strategy

Board dynamics: psychological safety and constructive dissent

Making board processes meaningful

Refining the role of the chair

Stewardship: delivering long-term social and economic impact

Boards in crisis

Managing CEO succession

Effective board oversight of management

Electives

On campus

As participants come from diverse international companies and a broad range of industries, High Performance Boards devotes parallel sessions to specific issues such as: digital ethics for boards, effective board oversight and ESG, de-risking CEO nomination, country risk for board members, and strategic customer insights for board members.

Post-program

Revisit your objectives for the program, along with program materials and resources provided. Join our global IMD Board Community and continue to network exchange with your peers through face-to-face events at IMD and around the world, as well as online events.

Testimonials

"IMD’s high-paced program equipped me to be a more effective board member, identify pitfalls and better tailor my role to the ups and downs businesses face. It also connected me with a diverse network of faculty, executives, and fellow board members, all committed to enhancing governance."

Jason Moser

Non-Executive Director at Angels Den Funding (UK) & Senior Legal Counsel M&A and Corporate Ventures, Nestlé

"The program has increased my effectiveness as a Chairman, and taught me the importance of setting the agenda and addressing concerns, maximizing the board’s time. The peer learning is of the highest caliber, especially when combined with an impactful mix of theoretical learning and real-world practice."

Marguerite Soeteman-Reijnen

Switzerland

"The program gave clear guidance on the role of the board, what to ask, and what to watch out for when you start on a board. It also stressed the importance of good governance and why it is so critical. I was much better equipped and more confident after the program."

George Vadakkekara

Non-Executive Director at Siemens and MN

"You have to bring your A-game and be totally present, because the pace and the quality of the participants is high. There’s value in every single minute. Getting that view of how great boards work, ensuring that I’m doing the right things and raising the bar has been invaluable to how I contribute going forward."

Dr. Noura AlGhaithi

Chairman Supervisory Board at Kelp Blue, The Netherlands

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Christiane Kuehne

Executive Chairman, Thejo Engineering Limited, India

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Maria Pejter

Undersecretary – Department of Health

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Abu Dhabi

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