Here’s a startling fact: More than half of corporate directors, 55%, believe at least one of their colleagues should be replaced.
That’s the highest number in nearly two decades of research, according to PwC’s 2025 Annual Corporate Directors Survey. Our question is whether board members agree on who the underperformers are? And if so, why aren’t they acting on the data?
Cultural barriers like excessive collegiality and discomfort with hard conversations prevent many boards from addressing these real challenges.
This is a costly intention-action gap for many boards. And it’s costing organizations in ways that go far beyond boardroom dynamics, impacting strategy, decision-making, stakeholder trust (from board to market), and finances.
The solution requires a multi-prong approach that requires every board member’s inclusive leadership and commitment to culture. This commitment in action creates kind accountability, where written agreements and behaviors work together, not against each other.
Why Traditional Collegiality Fails Boards
PwC’s research reveals something critical: boards operate without traditional hierarchy yet are often managed as if there was hierarchy. There’s no CEO holding directors accountable, directors must hold one another accountable through peer oversight.
That’s why good board culture matters so much.
Roberts rules and “collegiality” or “civility,” being nice, avoiding conflict, preserving relationships doesn’t create accountability. When politeness matters more than anything, ideas aren’t shared, underperformance goes unaddressed, and conflict goes unresolved. Boards stagnate. Strategic oversight weakens.
Inclusive leadership offers solution that harnesses every director’s talents. When you Cultiv8™ good board leadership:
- Every voice is genuinely heard and valued
- Challenge is welcomed as a path to better decisions, even when it’s uncomfortable
- Accountability flows naturally from shared commitment to excellence, and conflict is handled with care
- Difficult conversations happen with mutual respect and courage, psychological safety encourages the dialogue.
This kind of culture doesn’t happen by accident. It’s built through science-backed leadership traits in action, what we call the 8 traits of good leadership.
The 8 Leadership Traits That Strengthen Boards
These traits aren’t theoretical, they’re translated into practice. They’re the competencies in action that transform board culture from polite but passive to genuinely inclusive and accountable.
1. Courage: Breaking the Silence on Underperformance
When “civility” smiles matter more than naming the problem, underperformance thrives. Courage means speaking up, naming challenges, and inviting solutions, through the discomfort.
What this looks like in practice:
- Saying “I don’t think we’re getting the insights we need on this issue”
- Kindly naming when someone consistently comes unprepared
- Challenging decisions when the rationale isn’t clear
The short-term discomfort of a hard conversation is always less costly than the long-term consequences of avoiding it, and only courage opens the door to the solutions needed.
Business impact: Boards that cultivate courage make faster, better decisions because they’re not wasting time dancing around obvious problems.
2. Curiosity: Investigating Before Judging
PwC’s data shows directors want colleagues replaced for “lack of meaningful contribution.” But curious leaders ask deeper questions first.
Questions curious directors ask:
- “How am I contributing to this board’s challenges?”
- “What am I missing about this person’s perspective?”
- “Are our processes inadvertently silencing certain voices?”
Maybe that “quiet” director has insights that aren’t being invited. Maybe the board’s meeting structure favors certain communication styles over others. Maybe insufficient information is being shared. Maybe collaboration isn’t being invited?
Curious leaders investigate the system before judging individuals.
Business impact: Curiosity uncovers root causes instead of treating symptoms, leading to solutions that address the board’s problems.
3. Commitment: Going Beyond Attendance
Showing up isn’t the same as being present. The survey reveals “lack of meaningful contribution” as a top reason directors should be replaced.
True commitment means:
- Preparing thoroughly before every meeting
- Engaging actively in discussions, even when it’s uncomfortable
- Investing in continuous learning as challenges evolve, and not only about finances but the human.
In an era of AI transformation and rapid regulatory change, directors can’t coast on past expertise. The commitment to learning must be continual.
Business impact: Committed boards provide genuine oversight instead of rubber-stamping management decisions.
4. Empathy: Holding Standards While Honoring Dignity
Kind accountability requires empathy, that is, understanding why people behave as they do, and how the system contributes to the behavior.
An empathetic board recognizes that underperformance has causes: personal challenges, insufficient support, wrong role fit, or unclear expectations.
The difference empathy makes:
- Without empathy: “You’re not adding value.”
- With empathy: “I’m concerned we aren’t letting you leverage your strengths. Let’s talk about what would serve you and the board better.”
Only the latter statement empowers, builds trust, and mutual respect.
Business impact: Empathetic accountability reduces defensiveness and resistance, making change conversations productive instead of painful.
5. Humility: Creating Safety Through Self-Reflection
Directors must embrace candid self-assessment. That requires humility.
Humble leaders recognize they don’t have all the answers. They actively seek feedback about their own performance. They acknowledge when they lack expertise and defer to others with deeper knowledge.
Why this matters for board culture: When board leaders examine their “self”, they make it safe for others to do the same. Meaningful board evaluations aren’t check-the-box exercises but rather catalysts for improvement, everyone grows, and the organization benefits.
Business impact: Humble boards continuously improve because feedback flows freely instead of getting trapped by defensiveness and blame.
6. Collaboration: Designing for Participation
PwC emphasizes that even well-structured boards fall short without collective commitment to performance improvement. That commitment requires genuine collaboration.
Collaborative boards design for participation:
- They don’t leave participation to chance, they plan for every board member’s participation
- Genuinely welcome dissenting views (and listen to learn from them)
- Make decision-making processes transparent
- Actively invite quieter voices into discussions
Business impact: Collaborative boards make better decisions because they access the full intelligence of the group, not just the loudest or most known voices.
7. Conscientiousness: Building Trust Through Reliability
Trust, key to every high-performing board, comes from consistency of experience.
Conscientious directors:
- Prepare thoroughly for every meeting
- Honor commitments they make and are cognizant of their impact
- Create clear expectations and transparent evaluation criteria
- Apply accountability mechanisms consistently and fairly
When accountability is the norm and visible by all, it becomes a tool for improvement and is embraced. No shame, it’s seen as a gift.
Business impact: Conscientious boards build the trust necessary for accountability to feel supportive, not punitive.
8. Flexibility: Adapting to What Works
The boardroom landscape is changing rapidly. Directors must proactively refresh their boards to align with strategic goals, financial, technological, and human, and evolving market dynamics.
Flexibility means recognizing when traditional approaches no longer serve the organization.
This might look like:
- Reimagining board evaluation processes that aren’t driving change
- Adjusting committee structures as priorities shift
- Rethinking what expertise the board needs for the future
- Trying new meeting formats that encourage better participation
Flexible boards don’t cling to “the way we’ve always done it,” they proactively seek out better approaches.
Business impact: Flexible boards stay relevant as the business environment changes, instead of becoming obstacles to necessary evolution.
From Knowing to Doing: What Changes Board Culture
PwC’s research isn’t just revealing that boards struggle with underperformance. It’s revealing that board culture itself is the barrier to addressing it.
Let’s not let the status quo, tradition, and politeness prevent boards from acting on what needs to change.
Kind accountability offers a different path. It recognizes that:
- High standards and high support strengthen each other
- Inclusivity requires active design, not good intentions
- Honest feedback early is kinder than letting problems persist
- Individual and collective accountability must work together
Your Next Step
Ask yourself, do you have the leadership and culture at the board table to lead today? What leadership behaviors need to change?
Our 8 Cultiv8™ traits: courage, curiosity, commitment, empathy, humility, collaboration, conscientiousness, and flexibility, aren’t immutable characteristics, they can be activated with intention in action. They’re the practical leadership behaviors that could transform your board culture, from polite but passive to empowering of every board member with accountability.
Ready to strengthen your board’s leadership culture?
This blog shows how Promoting Good’s validated Cultiv8™ Leadership diagnostic and leadership programs can rebuild your board to address the findings from PwC’s 2025 Annual Corporate Directors Survey, which surveyed more than 600 public company directors about boardroom performance, culture, and the challenges of peer accountability.
