In this talk, Sarah Pierman explores the challenges and responsibilities of Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) in today’s boardrooms. From understanding the true meaning of power, to identifying critical truths, and having the courage to speak up, this session provides practical guidance for board members seeking to serve with impact and integrity.
Watch the full 10 minute talk:
POWER
I’ve heard boards described as orchestras.
Everyone playing different instruments.
The Chair as the conductor.
The strategy as the score.
Working together to make beautiful music.
Lovely image.
Pause.
But flip it.
The organisation is the orchestra.
The CEO is the conductor — cueing the violins, steadying the brass, signalling to the person in Comms with the big drum when to really give it some welly.
The audience — they’re the customers — experiencing the crescendos, the harmonies, even the unexpected notes.
And you?
The Non-Executive Directors. The Chair.
Pause.
You’re not on the stage.
You may have debated the repertoire.
Signed off the venue.
Approved the budget.
Argued over the tempo.
But when the music starts — pause — you’re not seen.
That’s the reality of “power” in this role.
It isn’t performance.
It isn’t applause.
It isn’t glory.
It’s influence.
It’s creating the conditions for others to do brilliant work — in service of shareholders, stakeholders, and the mission.
If you want the spotlight, this isn’t the role for you.
If you want to serve something bigger than yourself — it might be.
So perhaps we need to reframe what we mean by “power” on boards.
You are not there to dominate.
You are there to serve.
TRUTH
Your job as a Director is to constantly be working out what you believe the truth to be.
- What is the right thing to do?
- The right thing for all stakeholders?
Section 172 of the Companies Act makes clear that you have a duty not just to think about shareholders, but also to consider the impact your decisions have on:
- customers
- employees
- suppliers
- the community
- the environment
…and what’s right in the long term.
Board decisions are rarely black and white.
That’s what makes the NED role so stimulating.
There may be no single truth — but there will be a moment when you must decide where you land.
So how do you find that truth?
1. Capture your initial thoughts
Write down your first impressions when you:
- research the company
- attend interview stage
- join your first board meeting or committee meeting
- first read the board papers
Write those thoughts down.
You are coming to the organisation fresh.
You will soon become indoctrinated, to some degree, into what’s “normal round here”.
You will never view the organisation with such fresh eyes again.
So keep those notes.
2. Nose in
Be a sponge. Work hard at listening and knowing what’s going on.
Be curious.
Talk to staff.
Go where customers are.
Read complaints.
Notice behaviour and body language.
Interrogate the data.
Check out the intranet.
Offer to do exit interviews with executives.
And of course — read the board papers properly.
You need to be sufficiently in the loop, and sufficiently independent.
That is a tricky balance to master.
3. Ears out
We all know the NED who says, “At XYZ company we did it this way…”
If you’ve only worked in one place, that becomes your reference point for everything.
Open your mind to insights from multiple organisations — where you’ve been an employee or a board member — and from experts both inside and outside your field.
Learn from podcasts, blogs, books, TED Talks, research, even AI.
Expose your mind to other ideas.
4. Think independently
Don’t assume you’re immune to groupthink.
Humans are wired to belong — and the fear of social rejection often outweighs the desire to be right. In a boardroom, that dynamic can quietly destroy organisations.
Don’t just think in the boardroom.
And don’t just think while reading board papers.
Think beyond the board papers.
Think outside the boardroom.
Think in the shower.
Think while exercising.
Think while networking.
Think while listening to a podcast.
Think with a blank piece of paper.
If you don’t give yourself space to think afresh, you may struggle to avoid slipping into groupthink when you’re in the boardroom.
Don’t just turn up.
If you arrive after a quick scan of the papers and make decisions alongside everyone else in real time, you may struggle to develop independent judgement.
And you might not spot:
- the gap
- the missing agenda item
- the strategy assumption everyone accepted
- the KPI trend that looks fine but masks risk
- the culture issue not in the papers
5. Think with others
You arrive at the board meeting with independent views.
But then you move toward a collective decision.
Collective decision-making is the core of what a board does.
Boardrooms should be spaces for disagreement.
You must be open to discovering that your independently formed perspective was wrong.
6. Give it time
When you join a board, listen as much as possible.
But don’t wait until you’re indoctrinated to speak.
Keep an eye on your initial impressions.
For big decisions — the kind you cannot reverse — give things time where possible.
Deliberate alone.
Deliberate together.
Because there will be a moment — at some point — when you realise something is wrong…
…and no one else is saying it.
That is the moment this role is really about.
SPEAK
How do you speak truth to power well?
First — check your motives.
Are you acting in the best interests of the organisation and its stakeholders — or protecting comfort, reputation, or ego?
A helpful decision tool is BRAIN:
- Benefits
- Risks
- Alternatives
- Instinct
- Nothing
NEDs shouldn’t behave like High Court judges — delivering verdicts on people they barely know.
Board relationships should be built before they are tested.
Relationship comes first
How can NEDs build strong board relationships?
Many boards have dinners, lunches, away days.
Go further.
Have one-to-one coffees or video calls with each fellow board member, including executives, within your first six months. Hear their background. Share yours.
Take initiative.
I once joined a board that played golf after the first meeting. When this was mentioned by email, I replied all suggesting that anyone who didn’t play golf could go for a walk instead.
It turned out the NEDs were golfers — but the executives weren’t. We had a great walk and talk.
Take an interest in who directors are — not just what they do.
You want relationships where you can pick up the phone and run something past someone — and they can do the same with you.
You don’t need your fellow board members to be your dream dinner party. But over time, you do need mutual respect and interest in each other’s perspectives.
You need relationships strong enough to hold difficult truth.
Could you raise the question:
“Does the Chair need to go?”
Could you ask:
“Do the executives feel safe bringing bad news to this board?”
Those are good sense-checks.
How to deliver a challenging message
Who you go to depends on the issue:
- The Chair — for board dynamics, strategy, or CEO performance
- The CEO — for operational or project issues
- The Senior Independent Director — if the issue concerns the Chair
Where you raise it matters.
Often it’s wise to discuss issues outside the board meeting first.
When I joined a board at 25 and had something contentious to raise, I emailed all trustees. Now I plan bullet points and ask for a conversation.
Sometimes you do need to speak in the boardroom — but don’t try to catch people out. It serves no one if executives dread board meetings.
If relationships are weak, people sometimes bring every challenge as a surprise in meetings. That frustrates executives and chairs.
What you say matters too.
You are a critical friend.
Be inquisitive, not accusatory.
Say:
“I’m struggling to get comfortable with…”
“Help me understand the logic behind…”
Frame challenges around the organisation’s long-term health, values, and duties — not your opinion versus theirs.
What might stop you speaking?
You may not have seen disagreement modelled well. Psychological safety grows when people see others disagree constructively.
You may feel awe, imposter syndrome, or assume others are more qualified.
Expertise does not guarantee independent thinking.
Someone you once admired may turn out to be what Martha Lane Fox called a “nodding donkey”.
You may fear being seen as difficult.
Or feel insufficiently senior.
This is especially common if you feel like the “other” — the newest, youngest, different background, or from outside the sector.
The less you feel you belong, the higher the perceived cost of speaking.
Time helps.
Relationships help.
Being known helps.
Start by building trust. Confidence grows faster when you’re not standing alone.
You may also have forgotten your duty.
Here is the great leveller in every boardroom:
The law does not recognise hierarchy.
Every one of you is a Director.
Equally responsible.
Equally liable.
Silence is not neutral.
Silence is a decision.
Boards need NEDs who seek the truth — and speak it.
I fear the NED role has subtly shifted from stewardship to status.
We need to shift it back.
Closing
Back to our orchestra.
You — the Chair, the NEDs — sit out of view.
Listening. Watching. Sensing what others may not hear.
And when something isn’t right…
when something drifts…
when something no longer serves the music…
It is your duty to say so.
Because sometimes, the most powerful thing you can do…
is quietly say:
“We’re out of tune.”
First delivered: Dynamic Boards NED Community Meetup 23rd February 2026
Speaker: Sarah Pierman
Sarah is the CEO of Dynamic Boards and has held a number of NED roles. She has been a Non-Executive Director on the boards of a specialist bank, a banking software company, a home care franchise operator and a charity. After graduating from studying Maths at Oxford University, she began her career in banking and became a Director in RBS’s SME lending team aged 25. She has been working in start-ups for the last 10 years. At 25 she won the Professional Woman of the Future award and at 32 she was shortlisted for the Sunday Times ‘NED rising star’.
She started Dynamic Boards 6 years ago. With a small but mighty team Dynamic Boards has now advertised over 7000 roles, conducted Board Effectiveness Reviews, and has been running the monthly NED Community meetup for nearly 3 years.
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