by Hal Lillywhite

Created on: July 05, 2007

Begin (and continue) with the end in mind. What it the purpose of a corporate board? It is to provide advice, information, various viewpoints etc. as well as to oversee corporate officers. Because of that, the important minority on any board has little to do with things like skin color. Instead, every board should have a vocal minority of people who are willing to disagree with the prevailing consensus. This important minority should be able to explain why the disagree and what they suggest instead.

Office supply stores sell rubber stamps for a pittance. If that is what you want you can get one there for a lot less than the cost of a board of directors.

Yes, diversity is important on a board of directors but it should be a diversity of opinion, knowledge, and background. That should be a primary qualification for board members. That will tend to bring in some with different chromosomes or skin color. However the primary purpose of board diversity is to have people who will bring useful information to that board.

That said, it is also useful for a board to understand what customers want. Most companies want all the customers they can get, including men, women, different ethnic and racial backgrounds etc. For that reason it is useful to have someone on the board who understands those potential customers. As part of getting diversity of information, a company may want board members who represent major customer blocks.

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