Boards are increasingly held accountable—not just for strategy, but for risk readiness. In today’s landscape, oversight isn’t passive. It’s active, informed, and essential. According to a recent NACD report, 76% of board directors say the pace of emerging risks has outstripped their organization’s readiness.

 

That’s a governance failure waiting to happen.

 

The best boards take crisis oversight as seriously as financial oversight. They ask tough questions. They demand clarity. They push for rehearsed readiness rather than glossy binders that collect dust.

 

Here are the questions every board member should ask at least once a quarter:

• What’s our crisis playbook, and when was it last tested?

• Do we have clarity on who leads, who speaks, and who decides?

• Have we stress-tested our most vulnerable operational dependencies?

• How prepared are our executives to communicate under pressure?

• What did we learn from our last disruption, and how was it implemented?

 

Crisis readiness is a leadership issue. It’s also a fiduciary issue. A board that ignores risk isn’t just uninformed—it’s exposing the organization to legal, financial, and reputational consequences.

 

You don’t need a perfect plan. You need a practiced one.

 

Leadership Question:
If the board had to publicly defend your company’s crisis readiness tomorrow, what story could they tell?