Elevating your board’s performance in 2025 

Elevating your board’s performance in 2025 

We are excited to share our 2025 Governance Review which includes 40 pages of research, insights and advice. This report draws reviews of over over 600 board and 1,250 individual directors, making it one of our most extensive and evidence-based governance reviews. It isn’t just a reflection of where boards are today; it’s a guide for where they need to go next. 

Inside the report, you’ll discover: 

• Our lead article titled, Ensuring your board is fit for purpose in 2025. 

• Key findings from 600+ board reviews, identifying the most common strengths as well as the persistent challenges boards continue to face. 

• The DRIVE Framework – Direction, Relationships, Insight, Values, and Execution oversight – a new evidence-based model for director effectiveness, built from over 24,000 real-world comments. DRIVE helps directors focus not just on structure and skills, but on the critical behaviours, mindsets and culture that underpin high performance. 

• Practical insights on today’s most pressing boardroom challenges, including AI disruption, cybersecurity threats, ESG pressures, succession planning, and board dysfunction. 

• Case-based examples of what separates high-performing boards from the rest, highlighting how strong alignment on purpose, effective annual agendas, smart committee structures, and rigorous execution lead to better board performance. 

• An introduction to our new Entry Level Board Survey, designed for smaller organisations, first-time reviews or those seeking a data-driven alternative to in-house surveys. 

We’ve found encouraging signs that boards are improving. However, progress remains too slow, and in many areas, boards are struggling to keep pace with rising expectations, technological disruption, and the complexity of today’s regulatory environment. 

This report exists as a roadmap and a resource for every board committed to excellence. Whether you’re a chair, director, company secretary or governance professional, the 2025 Governance Review: Elevating your board’s performance in 2025 offers invaluable insights to help you strengthen your board’s contribution, culture and impact.