The true character of a board is revealed in the critical calls it makes – rethinking strategy in the face of stalled growth, fending off a hostile takeover, navigating a governance breach, or managing a reputational crisis that puts years of stakeholder trust at risk overnight. These are high-stakes moments: marked by uncertainty, competing demands, hidden trade-offs, and consequences that are hard to predict and costly to reverse.

Critical Calls is a practical playbook for exactly these moments. Drawing on behavioural psychology, governance expertise, and real-world boardroom experience, it equips directors with frameworks for the decisions that matter most. Amidst seismic market, geopolitical, and climate upheaval – compounded by AI disruption and ever-tighter timeframes for consequential calls – razor-sharp judgment is no longer optional. It is the defining competency of the modern director and the contemporary board.

A guide for new and aspiring directors, a refresher for experienced ones, and for the risk and governance professionals who support them.

Meena Thuraisingham, governance specialist and non-executive director, leads BoardQ – a board advisory practice. She is the author of Identity, Power and Influence in the Boardroom (Routledge, 2019) and The Secret Life of Decisions (Routledge, 2013).