A few years ago, I worked with a company whose board was known for its passive oversight. The chair, an affable industry elder, avoided conflict like a virus. His signature phrase? “Let us not rock the boat.” Over time, directors stopped asking probing questions. Committee chairs glossed over risk flags. Even the audit committee began rubber-stamping reports. The result? The bank sleepwalked into a compliance crisis that cost millions in fines. When the chair finally resigned, a director confided, “We reflected him. When he blinked, we blurred.” This is the leadership contagion every boardroom faces. The chair’s posture, whether vigilant…

Years ago, a regional telecom firm hired a consultant to fix a failing product launch, marked by missed deadlines and blame games. Morale broken. Yet the team had the “best talent.” The first thing they noticed? It was a group, not a team. A group meets. A team delivers. Like lions on a hunt, every member of a high-performance action team knows three things: the mission, their role, and the kill shot. No lion chases alone. No lion waits for a meeting. They move with silent clarity, each trusting the other to execute. In that firm, the consultant split the…