Gerry Brown is Chairman of both private equity firm Novaquest Capital Management, and of G. Brown Associates Ltd - a family company providing consultancy services. He is a Council Member of the University of Exeter and Visiting Fellow at Henley Business School, UK. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors, and on the Advisory Board for Corporate Governance. He has held several independent director and chairman posts in public and private companies across a variety of industries and geographies, and is the author of The Independent Director: The Non-Executive Director's Guide to Effective Board Presence (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015).

Filipe Morais is Lecturer in Governance at Henley Business School. He is Programme Director for Henley's MSc in Management for Future Leaders, and teaches corporate governance and strategic management topics in various programmes. He is a regular speaker at academic and practitioner conferences. He formerly worked for over 10 years in senior HR and general management positions in the automotive, semiconductor, health and higher education industries in the UK and Portugal. In 2018, he received the Academy of Management's Outstanding Reviewer Award.

Andrew Kakabadse is Professor of Governance and Leadership at Henley Business School, where he is also Programme Director of the Board Directors' Programme. He was previously Professor of International Management Development at Cranfield School of Management, UK, where he was made Emeritus Professor. He has consulted and lectured widely, and his current areas of interest focus on improving the performance of top executives, executive teams, and boards; excellence in consultancy practice; leadership; and corporate governance.

Surveys and analyses the crisis in governance across organisations in the UK

Draws on in-depth, empirical research from the authors' work at Henley Business School

Argues compellingly for the role of non-executive directors in cultivating organisational excellence

1. Introduction.- 2. Challenges and opportunities.- 3. Independence and value creation.- 4. Engaged stewardship: governance and service.- 5. The importance of knowledge.- 6. Engagement and evidence.- 7. The role of the chair.- 8. Making impact.- 9. Selection, training and evaluation.- 10. Recommendations for policy.