In most boardrooms, one critical question lingers unasked, unanswered, and often unwelcome: “Who evaluates the Chair?” Boards regularly assess the CEO. Some even evaluate themselves as a collective. But when it comes to the Chairperson, the individual who sets the tone, shapes the culture, and steers the board’s effectiveness, silence reigns. And that silence is dangerous. The chair makes or breaks the board The Chairperson is not just a facilitator; they are the heartbeat of the board. Their leadership style influences everything: from how boldly directors speak up, to how effectively the board challenges management, to how strategically it thinks. A weak…
Do not sit in the cockpit if you cannot read a map
A CEO once called me. He said, “Mr. Strategy, we want you to train our board on finance for non-finance directors.” I declined. I told him straight: “That’s not training, it’s charity.” A director who cannot read a balance sheet, interpret financial ratios, or understand the company’s financial heartbeat has no business being near the boardroom. Asking a blind man to guard the national treasury is like asking a blind man to guard the national treasury. Serving on a board is not a decorative appointment. It’s a fiduciary duty. It’s about judgment. It’s about protecting shareholder value. And guess what?…
When strategy meets culture, who wins?
The boardroom was tense. A new CEO had just been hired to lead a regional manufacturing firm that had stagnated for five years. He walked in with a 98-slide strategy deck, fresh from a Big 4 advisory team. It was clean, data-backed, and impressive. Three months in, not a single initiative had taken root. Staff ignored memos. Managers nodded in meetings and did nothing afterward. The CEO fired two department heads. Still, no movement. Six months in, he resigned. Why? Culture chewed through his strategy like a termite in a wooden pillar. Now let me be blunt. Culture always wins.…
Winning in the boardroom
In 2008, I sat at the back of the Institute boardroom, clutching my notebook like a talisman. I was not a board member yet. I was just “Member, Member Services Committee,” but you could not have convinced me otherwise. Every meeting was a masterclass. Every whisper from the Committee Chairman was a lesson in agenda control. Every casual joke from the Institute’s CEO / Secretary was a calculated move to steer decisions without raising alarms. I learned something most people never figure out until it’s too late: Boardroom success is not about having a seat. It is about having a…
Forget the 5Cs because they were built for a banking museum, not today’s battlefield.
In March 2024, I received a call from a Nigerian bank, one of those institutions parading itself as digital-first while secretly running on analog thinking. They wanted virtual training on credit risk management, a noble request. I welcomed the opportunity with open hands-on condition that I gained context about their business model and banking philosophy. They nodded yes. As I dug into their strategy and risk appetite, the contradiction was glaring: they were talking cloud, AI, and fintech partnerships on their website… but inside, they were still underwriting like it’s 1995. Their loan officers were rewarded for paperwork. Their risk…
DTB Uganda, the bank with a trillion shillings+ asset base and no real ambition.
If DTB Uganda were a person, it would be that well-dressed executive in a Land Cruiser, parked all day at a cafe, scrolling Quora for motivation quotes, rich, respectable, and completely disconnected from the hustle that built this country. On paper, DTB has the makings of a powerhouse: 2.9 trillion in assets, UGX 2.2 trillion in deposits, and a regional brand with the muscle of a Kenyan parent. But scratch the surface, and you will find a bank running on autopilot, low returns, high costs, dead capital, and an outdated lending model still obsessed with land titles in a country…
