Three years ago, I sat in a boardroom of a mid-sized insurance firm. After a two-hour discussion on claims ratios, reinsurance limits, and IFRS 17 adjustments, the chair leaned back and said, “Let’s touch strategy quickly before we close.” That right there is the problem.
Boards are not ceremonial clubs. They exist to create long-term value. And strategy is the board’s first language; everything else is translation. If you want to test whether your board understands its role, ask: When was the last time you changed, killed, or scaled a major strategic direction? If the room goes silent, you already know.
In the insurance sector, most strategic reviews are essentially glorified financial plans that aim to earn premiums, cut costs, and reduce fraud. That’s not a strategy. That’s budgeting with hope.
"If your strategy discussion is squeezed between coffee breaks and compliance updates, you're not governing. You're sleepwalking."
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Effective boards do three things:
a) Diagnose the business with the rigour of a trauma doctor. They don’t just nod to management reports, they interrogate assumptions.
b) Define the long game. Not five-year wish lists, but sharp trade-offs: where to play, how to win, and what to leave behind.
c) Monitor like hawks. Not just lag indicators, but also lead indicators that show momentum or stall, as well as new product trials, distribution cost curves, and customer lifetime value trends.
You don’t need another retreat. You need a war room.
Leadership challenge: Most boards confuse oversight with supervision. Your job isn’t to check management’s homework. Your job is to change the exam questions.
Tool: Use the Strategy Check-In Grid quarterly:
- What is no longer true about our market?
- What are we doubling down on?
- What bets are not paying off?
- What is the one irreversible move we must consider now?
Strategy is not a report. It’s a rhythm. Set the tempo. Or get replaced by a board that will.
