In every boardroom I have walked into, in the public sector, financial institutions, or family-owned manufacturers, it only takes a few minutes of silence to smell the culture. Not read it, but smell it. At one board meeting, directors began as usual, heads down, scrolling through WhatsApp while nodding at the board pack. Midway through, the Chair paused and asked, “Has everyone read the strategy memo?” A few nodded. No one spoke. “Any concerns before we approve?” The room went quiet. “We trust management,” someone offered. But this was not trust. It was quiet disengagement disguised as confidence. Strategic detachment…

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I once worked with a CEO who carried the strategy document like a Bible, only it never left his briefcase. It was during a quarterly strategy review. The boardroom was stiff with tension, directors shifting uncomfortably as the numbers were projected on the wall: missed revenue by 22%, customer churn up 18%, staff turnover at an all-time high. The CEO, unfazed, reached into his leather briefcase and pulled out the strategy document with a reverent smile. Thick, glossy, and laminated tabs. He opened it like a sacred scroll and began to read. “According to page 17 of our strategic priorities,…

In chess, grandmasters still beat computers, but only when they break the rules. My team once trained a team of data analysts for a multinational bank. They had dashboards that blinked like Christmas trees, powered by AI and machine learning. Beautiful charts, predictive models, and Real-time sentiment analysis. Yet, they still failed to detect a UGX 3 billion fraud that a junior teller had flagged, based on “something just felt off.” That was the moment the CEO realized: data gives you signals, but only humans give them meaning. We are entering an era where algorithms tell you what is happening. But not why, not…

At a leadership retreat for one of East Africa’s largest manufacturing groups, I observed a striking contrast. The CEO, a numbers man to the core, proudly explained his five-year strategic plan, full of complex Excel forecasts and market penetration assumptions. Midway through his PowerPoint, the Chair interrupted: “This sounds impressive. But tell me, how much of this is chess, and how much is dice?” The room went silent. You could even hear a pin drop. That question deserves to haunt every boardroom. Too many leaders confuse structured execution with strategic thought. They roll the dice, hoping for luck in forex…

At a government agency, I met an internal auditor who was technically brilliant, had all the credentials. Knew every policy. But every board meeting, she was asked to “just present the audit plan and findings.” Then sidelined. I pulled her aside and asked, “Why don’t you present the risk strategy instead?” She replied, “That’s for the CEO and strategy people.” I laughed. That’s the problem. She didn’t own the seat. She borrowed it. Six months later, I coached her to repackage her reports: start with a business objective, show the strategic risk, highlight lost revenue or operational drag, and then…