When boards question their own leadership...

It seems that it is times like these — the global economic crisis, you know — that make us aware of the need for, or the lack of, leadership among our institutions of business and government. Perhaps that quality is present, or not, during "normal" times," but it is only when we actually require such capabilities that we recognize their existence, or the vacuum that remains.

So, it is with only little surprise and some anxiety, that we note the results of a McKinsey Quarterly poll. While it was not entirely scientific — because it was an opt-in, loosely controlled sample — we opine that the results likely are representative and, therefore, worth noting here.

McKinsey published “The crisis: Mobilizing boards for change” in February and in connection with that story the company “invited directors to take an online survey to gather their opinions on how boards were responding to the economic crisis.”

Half of board members responding said their boards have “responded effectively to the global economic turmoil. However, many corporate boards have adjusted their practices, and more want to do so.”

Yet the survey says, “Many boards of directors are not providing the leadership demanded by the global economic crisis.”

• Only half of board members responding described their boards as effective in managing the economic crisis.
• “Just over a third” reported that their boards have not been effective in the current circumstance.
• 14% are unsure how to rate their boards’ effectiveness.

At the personal level…

• “Roughly half of corporate directors” reported that their boards’ chairs have not met the demands of the crisis, and
• “A nearly equal percentage” of board chairmen believe the same about their board members.

Though most boards have implemented some changes to their procedures in response to the crisis, 62 percent say their boards need to change even more.

The McKinsey poll results are available here.