In a multipolar world as middle ranking powers search for new relationships to augment their capabilities, big powers seem more willing to exert hard power and disrupt to demonstrate and exploit their ranking. The USA is led by a climate change denier who initiated a war of choice that has backfired.

It was well past 6.00 pm, much beyond the scheduled closing time of the Board meeting. The Directors were beginning to glance at their watches, nervous about catching their return flights to their home cities. The Chairman looked through the agenda and announced, “We have completed the key items.

For as long as boards have existed, they have operated at a structural disadvantage. Directors answer for a company they do not run, and most of what they learn reaches them through a single channel: the management team they are meant to oversee.

The days have gone when Corporate Governance in Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) was considered merely as a regulatory obligation. The era of limited autonomy for boards for decision-making, more inclined towards social obligations rather than a commercial approach and government control has gone with the passage of time.

For decades, Corporate Leadership could borrow its bearings from a small circle of capitals and a shared set of assumptions. Today those bearings are scattered across a many-centred world, and boards must steer by judgement more than by precedent. It is a harder way to lead, but also a more honest one.

Independent Directors (IDs) should complement executive colleagues who wrestle with day-to-day issues that burn up time needed for the independent thought expected of company directors. IDs and executive directors should understand each other's roles and how their respective contributions can be complementary.

Boards rarely destroy value because a director did not know a section of tax law. They destroy value when obvious questions are not asked early enough, or answers are accepted because the organisation has fallen in love with a transaction. This is not confined to weak boards; it is the natural risk of enthusiastic ones.

The role of an Independent Director has never been more vital than in today's increasingly complex corporate landscape. Currently, businesses are navigating geopolitical uncertainty, rapid technological disruption, diverse regulatory expectations, mounting stakeholder demands, financial pressures and growing scrutiny of corporate governance.

Public service brings in a lot of experience across different sectors, and in some sectors one does develop deeper insights. Thus, when one joins the boardroom, one can bring in that experience, but it is equally important to keep oneself updated in the sector in which one has accepted the board position.

My answer has changed over the years. Earlier, I would have said that deep functional expertise especially in functions like Finance, HR and Business Operations, leadership experience and a good reputation were the foundation. I still believe they are essential