New energy is stirring in corporate boards. After years when accounting scandals and charges of inadequate governance put them on the defensive, they are looking to step up their engagement with core areas of corporate performance and value creation… they are now determined to play an active role in setting the strategy, assessing the risks, developing the leaders, and monitoring the long-term health of their companies.

…Directors want to be more actively involved in three areas: what we call a company’s health (its ability to survive and develop over the longer term) and its short-term fi nancial performance, its strategy and assessment of risk, and its leadership… they wish to expand their reach into issues that
shed light on the longer-term health of their companies.