Activity – Sources of Anxiety in the Boardroom

Click here to download this activity as a PDF worksheet

Exercise

There are a number of fears and anxieties commonly experienced in the boardroom.  Use the checklist below to identify your own concerns or anxieties in board meetings and those concerns or anxieties that may be shared by your fellow board members.

Opportunity for Personal Reflection

  • Think of a time in a Board meeting when you have not said what you wanted to say. What stopped you?  Did one of these fears/anxieties get in the way, if so which one?
  • Which behaviours have you observed in fellow Board members that might indicate that they are experiencing some of these fears or anxieties?
  • What have been the consequences – for you and for the Board as a whole?
  • If your Board meets in public, what difference does that make?

If you wish, you can add your thoughts to the collaborative jamboard below and view the responses of other learners.

Jamboard on Sources of Anxiety in the Boardroom

Having explored what are ‘high stakes’ and what can raise the stakes in a Board environment, in the next class, Margaret outlines the shadow human behaviours that can emerge when the stakes are high and rising.