Custom Board Programmes

Strategy and leadership programmes tailored to your ambition

Today’s board directors face complex responsibilities, from market instability, regulatory change, rising stakeholder expectations and the demands of leading transformation in a disrupted world. Creating sustainable value requires confident decision-making, strategic planning and foresight and impact focused governance. 

Our custom programmes help build future‑ready boards, strengthening leadership and identifying pathways to sustainable competitive advantage.

We help Boards to:

• Understand how sustainability and global disruption impact commercial strategy and long-term performance 
• Build alignment on the scale of the challenge and the need for action 
• Identify emerging risks, opportunities and strategic priorities 
• Oversee executive strategy and delivery of organisational purpose
• Prepare for new regulation, disclosure requirements and ESG standards
• Reflect critically on leadership and governance responsibilities  

Our approach

Our custom board programmes typically last a full day and include short briefings and facilitated discussions to build alignment and establish priority actions. Sessions are delivered by expert contributors, hand-selected from our faculty and international network of business leaders, regulators, lawyers, investors and academics.

Ahead of the programme, we work with you to understand the board’s current position and priorities so that each session can be tailored for maximum impact. Topics are agreed jointly but typically cover:

• Global Context: Understanding the forces reshaping markets and why sustainability is now a question of survival and commercial success
• Legal Duties: Reevaluating the Board’s fiduciary role and exploring shifts in corporate law, public interest litigation and ESG reporting
• Strategy and Purpose: Aligning profitability with positive social and environmental outcomes
• Leadership and Governance: Challenging whether the board is fit for future purpose and properly equipped to lead and govern in a rapidly changing world

Programmes are led by Professor Richard Calland and include short briefings and facilitated discussions to build alignment and establish priority actions. Sessions are delivered by expert contributors, hand-selected from our faculty and international network of business leaders, regulators, lawyers, investors and academics.

Our track record

CISL has over 30 years’ experience supporting organisations to take leadership, catalyse change, and accelerate the path towards a sustainable economy. We have worked with boards across sectors and geographies, delivering measurable impact and strategic transformation. Recent work includes:

Board Leadership Programmes

CISL worked with corporate boards from a range of sectors including energy, food, construction and retail, as part of our expanding portfolio of Board Leadership Programmes. Through a series of engagements tailored to the context of corporate governance and region-specific jurisdictions, these programmes have enabled directors to think critically about their roles and responsibilities, to align sustainability and commerciality and to navigate dilemmas.

Across the year, board directors explored responses to the ESG backlash and faltering market support, evolving stakeholder expectations, legal liabilities, political and government shifts, and evolving governance standards and norms. Discussions have included a recognition of the need to address not only complacency which may be a barrier to the scale of innovation needed, but also the case for businesses to adopt a strategy of assertive advocacy in support of changes to the ‘rules of the game’ to create thriving markets for net zero, nature-positive products.

Shaping the future of boards and corporate governance

As stewards of the future, we believe that boards must evolve to ensure that they are guiding businesses to build long term competitiveness and resilience in the face of ever more pressing climate and nature crises. This includes challenging and supporting the executive to take appropriate action to drive market and economy wide shifts to protect their markets for the long-term. This requires strategic foresight, understanding the systemic nature of the challenge, and aligning governance with a clear purpose and strategy to approach sustainability as a competitive imperative.