Helping your board make better decisions

This practical masterclass explores how CEOs can create the conditions for better board decision-making when the stakes are high, the information is incomplete and there is no easy answer.

When the answer isn’t obvious to a complex challenge facing your organisation, the CEO has an important role in helping the board make sense of the situation, weigh the options and reach a confident decision. But how do you do that without either taking the decision away from trustees or leaving them struggling to navigate the uncertainty?

You’ll explore how to:

• help your board distinguish between a difficult decision and a complicated one
• avoid analysis paralysis and keep decisions moving
• support your Chair in navigating tension arising from differing viewpoints
• present uncertainty and incomplete evidence in ways that support good judgement
• balance risk, opportunity and organisational values
• facilitate better strategic conversations around the board table
• build board confidence to make collective decisions when there is no obvious right answer

You’ll leave with practical approaches you can use with your own board, particularly when the decisions in front of you are difficult or contentious.

Facilitator

Sarah Gosling

Charity Strategy and Board Effectiveness Consultant, Gosling Charity Consulting

Sarah Gosling

Charity Strategy and Board Effectiveness Consultant, Gosling Charity Consulting

Sarah is an experienced charity leader, facilitator, strategy and governance consultant. She believes strong charities are built on thoughtful leadership, effective governance, and a clear sense of purpose. She is committed to helping charity boards and senior leaders create the conditions in which their organisations and teams can achieve their mission.

Drawing on more than 25 years of experience across the charity sector as a chief executive, trustee, chair, governance lead and clerk, she brings an understanding of the realities of leadership and governance from multiple perspectives around the board table leading organisations through challenge and transformation.

As a consultant and facilitator, Sarah specialises in board development and effectiveness, helping boards strengthen relationships, improve decision-making, and fulfil their responsibilities with confidence. Her approach combines extensive professional experience with a genuine belief in the power of values-led leadership to create meaningful and lasting impact.