Educating, informing and supporting directors to lead successfully | Irish Times

Caroline Spillane CDir, Chief Executive Officer, Institute of Directors Ireland. Photograph: Patrick Bolger.

While the fundamental duties and responsibilities of board members have remained unchanged for many years, the world in which they operate is constantly evolving, and directors need to keep pace if they are to make a positive contribution to the success and growth of the businesses they serve.

“The role of a director is one of the most impactful positions in any organisation,” notes Institute of Directors Ireland (IoD Ireland) Chief Executive Officer Caroline Spillane CDir. “Directors must keep pace with a rapidly changing and highly dynamic business environment. Look at the advances in AI and GenAI in the past two years alone and how they are affecting business operations and performance. Cybersecurity and sustainability are other areas which have seen rapid change. Directors need to understand these areas as well as other external factors such as geopolitics and its potential to disrupt supply chains.”

As a result, many organisations are investing in continuous learning and education for their board directors, Spillane explains. “To thrive in this role, board directors must continuously develop their skills, balancing core competencies such as finance, governance, and strategy with leadership qualities like behavioural risk management and team collaboration,” Spillane adds.

Among the biggest challenges facing many directors is making the transition from an executive management role to board membership. “If you take a step back and look at the way many people get appointed to boards it’s because they had been phenomenally excellent managers and very successful in their careers as executives,” she points out. “Just because you have been a great executive doesn’t mean you will make a good board member. Different skills and knowledge are required, and the level of awareness and the lens used for oversight are also quite different. Continuing professional development helps people make that leap from one role to the other.”

For individuals who may have been accustomed to very hands-on roles as executives, the boardroom requires a change of mindset from implementation to oversight. “That’s a very important component of the support we provide at the Institute of Directors Ireland,” she adds. “An effective director has the core competencies to understand and critically assess complex information from the executive, while at the same time providing support, guidance and oversight from a governance, strategic and compliance perspective. For the past 30 years we have been helping directors build the competencies they need to operate at peak performance levels.”

All IoD learning and education programmes, from workshops on areas such as supply chain and procurement and board reporting, to short programmes on ESG, right the way through to the Chartered Director Programme, are reflected in the IoD Ireland CPD Framework for Directors. “The framework looks at the various skill sets required by directors and leaders and has four separate dimensions,” Spillane explains.

The four dimensions are governance, technical knowledge and skills, creative strategy formulation, and the psychology of the boardroom.

The governance dimension covers the essential duties and responsibilities of directors and the ability to navigate complex regulatory and legal landscapes. “Directors need to be very clear on their role and responsibilities and have an understanding of company law, governance structures, audit and risk, what it means to be a trustee, and so on.”

The technical knowledge and skills dimension covers areas like company finances, cybersecurity, digital technologies and their impact, ESG, and AI. “It unpacks the essential skills and knowledge directors need to steer boards successfully into the future. Those skills help them fine-tune board decisions, ensuring optimal outcomes in compliance, risk management, control and corporate performance.”

Creative strategy formulation dives into the methodologies and creative thinking needed to shape strategies that meet short and long-term business goals, and the know-how required to transform instinct into strategic decision-making.

The fourth dimension is the critically important psychology of the boardroom. “This dimension helps directors understand the emotional undercurrents, behavioural influences and subconscious reactions that impact board effectiveness. It gives directors the knowledge and insights as well as the confidence to contribute positively to boardroom dynamics and to be an effective board member.”

The CPD Framework combines IoD knowledge and research on corporate governance best practices with expert input from members, boards and senior business executives.

The newly launched IoD Ireland Prospectus 2025 outlines all IoD Ireland programmes and workshops, and is divided into these four core dimensions so directors and executives can easily pick and choose the right option for them to upskill as a director.

Spillane notes, “Many directors will already have strengths across a number of those dimensions. The aim of this prospectus is to simplify the process of mapping out what skills and knowledge they have already, what they might need in the future, how to fill in the gaps or refresh existing skills and identify what they might need to do differently.”

The benefits are not limited to practical skills acquisition. “The majority of our learning and education programmes are delivered live and are highly interactive to encourage peer-to-peer learning,” she says. “That’s very important as it is a fantastic way to learn from others and build networks. Participants get to understand how other organisations operate, how different business models work, and learn from their peers. Also, all of our faculty members are active independent non-executive directors as well as subject matter experts in their specific fields. That enables them to combine theory with practical application.”

The IoD Chartered Director Programme Graduation earlier this month

Many board members choose to pursue Chartered Director status. “Our Chartered Director Programme is the gold standard in professional director development,” Spillane points out. “It is an internationally recognised professional qualification that equips directors not only to deal with their day-to-day duties but also to handle the unpredictable. But it’s not the end of the learning journey. Directors recognise the importance of continuous development and the need to understand contemporary issues if they are to contribute to the board. Their role is to ensure the organisation survives and is sustainable into the future and every director wants to add value in that respect.

“The IoD workshops and short programmes are relevant to all directors, for those directors who have embarked on the journey of professional accreditation as a Chartered Director, as well as for those directors who have not undertaken the Chartered Director Programme.

“Board members can avail of our IoD short programmes and workshops year-round, and in addition, they can take advantage of our free to attend events and the other resources we provide.”

Guidance on the educational offerings is always available. “We are available on the phone, and we are very happy to discuss our programmes and guide people on their development journeys,” Spillane adds. “All of our learning and education offerings are eligible for CPD hours and some of them are eligible for Skillnet Ireland funding.”

She concludes by noting the very high standards of corporate governance that prevail in Ireland today. “We have seen a marked improvement over the years as more and more boards and individual directors have taken it upon themselves to engage in continuous professional development programmes. The Institute of Directors Ireland is a not-for-profit organisation and part of our mission is to provide training and development opportunities for directors. Governance standards are very high at the moment, but we need to maintain that level and continuously improve in today’s fast paced world. Everything we do is shaped to achieve this objective.”