Are You Leveraging the Diverse Talent on Your Board?

Harvard Business Review (Feb 23, 2026) by Harvard Business School professors Linda A. Hill, Lynn S. Paine and James I. Cash, Jr., drawing on interviews with 30 directors from boards representing roughly $18 trillion in market value, argues that inclusion is an active practice — not a byproduct of demographic representation. Recommendations: manage conflict as a source of insight, broaden director recruitment beyond traditional profiles, set tone through facilitation and coaching, design onboarding and mentoring for new directors, and dismantle "boards-within-the-board" insider hierarchies. Useful for SEA mid-market boards that recruit for diversity then revert to inner-circle decision-making.