Prof Keil publishes new paper on Boards in Harvard Business Review

In their paper “Managing Difficult Directors”, published in the June/July issue of Harvard Business Review, Marianna Zangrillo, Thomas Keil, and Stevo Pavićević argue that board dysfunction often stems not from poor strategy or inadequate information, but from the behavior of individual directors who disrupt the board’s ability to function as an effective collective decision-making body.

Drawing on extensive interviews with board chairs and directors, the article identifies three recurring archetypes—passive passengers, dominators, and misguided experts—whose behaviors, though different, produce similar consequences: slower decision making, weaker debate, strained board dynamics, and diminished trust. The article emphasizes that effective boards address these challenges not through confrontation alone but through a combination of clear behavioral expectations, early and direct feedback, thoughtful board processes, and, when necessary, formal governance interventions. The central message is that high-performing boards are not distinguished by the absence of difficult personalities, but by their ability to manage them constructively so that disagreement becomes productive challenge rather than destructive friction.