An Enter the Boardroom “Wrapped” Insight — drawn from conversations with world-class Chairs, NEDs, CEOs and governance leaders

Boards don’t succeed by accident. Behind the best-functioning board members we spoke to on Enter the Boardroom with Nurole in 2025 was a common thread: intentional, repeatable rituals that elevate the quality of discussion, strengthen relationships and sharpen decision-making.

Here are the most valuable board rituals of 2025, drawn directly from the board members who practice them.

End-of-meeting evaluation

Raised repeatedly by Professor Randall Peterson and Professor Stanislav Shekshnia, this five-minute ritual may be the single highest-leverage practice a board can adopt.

It typically involves two questions:

• How did we do today?
• What could we do better next time?

Board members described it as “transformational,” turning the board into a learning organism that compounds insight over time.

Private NED sessions before and after the meeting

Gerry Murphy highlighted the power of these moments - not for politicking, but for alignment, reflection and clarity of challenge.

Pre-meeting:
✔ surface emerging concerns
✔ test lines of enquiry
✔ ensure the board enters the room focused

Post-meeting:
✔ reflect freely without executives present
✔ identify cultural or behavioural signals
✔ agree on follow-up actions

Directors consistently linked this ritual to stronger teamwork and higher-quality oversight.

Informal dinners and relationship-building time

Angela Seymour-Jackson, Tamara Box, Dame Marie Gabriel and others emphasised that trust is built outside the boardroom, not inside it.

Informal board dinners enable richer understanding of colleagues, more open conversation, deeper empathy and more honest challenge when it matters

Board members told us that without this ritual, psychological safety is much harder to achieve.

Walking the corridors

Thomas Thune Andersen calls it essential: “Every time we have a board meeting, we walk the office.” Similarly, Doug Gurr described trustees visiting conservation studios or walking supply chains as critical to “getting real.”

These rituals reconnect the board with frontline work, customer experience, operational truth and cultural reality.

Directors noted that the best insights rarely come from paper. They come from proximity.

Pre-meeting briefings to ensure directors arrive prepared

Louise Hill praised this ritual as a time-saver and quality-raiser. Pre-briefings help directors: understand context, clarify technical points, avoid unnecessary questions during the meeting, focus challenge where it matters. Boards said it lifts overall contribution quality almost instantly.

“Mission moments” at the start of meetings

By opening each meeting with a story, data point or lived experience directly connected to the organisation’s purpose. Boards members reported: deeper alignment, clearer priorities, stronger connection to stakeholders, and more grounded decisions.

Non-Executive session without the CEO present

Identified by Dr Doyin Atewologun as a powerful moment of collective reflection. This ritual helps boards:check alignment, evaluate the quality of discussion, assess organisational health, and gather impressions that might not surface in formal dialogue

Five-minute quality reflection at the end of every meeting

A refinement of the broader evaluation ritual from Randall Peterson. Boards that adopt this consistently said it improves meeting flow, contribution discipline, behavioural norms, and shared accountability. It also builds a culture of candour and continuous improvement.

Starting each meeting by asking: “What do we want from this?”

A ritual recommended by Fred Destin. It forces alignment on purpose, clarity of expectations, and focus on outcomes, not process. Boards who use it say meetings become more intentional and less performative.

Ending meetings by asking: “What went well today? What didn’t?”

A ritual cited by Fiona Hathorn. This simple debrief reinforces strengths, surfaces improvements, reduces unspoken frustrations, builds trust and maturity.

What These Rituals Reveal About Board Leadership in 2025

1. High-performing boards design their culture deliberately.

None of these rituals are accidental. Each reflects an understanding that governance effectiveness stems from behaviour, not paperwork.

2. The most valuable rituals create space for reflection and relationships.

Whether it’s an evaluation, a walk through the business or a conversation over dinner, the best rituals make room for insight that paper alone cannot produce.

3. The strongest boards operate as learning teams.

Practices like end-of-meeting reviews and pre-meeting alignment point to a broader shift: boards now see themselves as evolving bodies, not static fixtures.

4. Connection to mission and reality is a competitive advantage.

Boards that stay close to purpose and frontline truth make better, braver, more informed decisions.