Editor's Letter: In Search of Excellence

One of my favorite rites of spring is the start of baseball season. All of the off-season dealing is done and now the players take the field, and we see who has stepped up their game and who looks a little slower this year. Almost more than watching the games, sports fans love to size up the players and argue over who are the best and worst—a pastime that keeps in business five or so variations of the sports cable network ESPN and countless AM stations devoted to sports talk.

As observers of the sport that is practiced in the boardroom, it’s only natural that we are drawn to the idea of singling out those directors who strike us as the best and brightest. Since it is impossible for us to watch board directors in action, it’s not easy to handicap the top performers. Sure we can see the results of great companies or pour over corporategovernance ratings, and these shed some light on the topic, but they don’t give us definitive answers, and they certainly don’t reveal which individual directors are performing at the top of their game.

But we weren’t about to let a little thing like the complete lack of empirical data keep us from our natural desire to recognize greatness. Our editorial team worked the phones, talking to recruiters, professors, governance experts, and board advisers. Nearly all of them warned us against making best-director or best-board lists, but then most of them went on to tell us—off the record of course—who they thought were the best. We listened to their warning and spent most of our energy writing about the qualities and characteristics of great directors and great boards. And then we made our lists. We just couldn’t resist. Although we admit they are subjective and just a sampling of the best.

And now, we invite you to join in the fun. Who do you think makes the cut as a boardroom all-star? What boards deserve recognition for rising above the rest? Go to www.directorship.com/bestboards and share your thoughts.

Joseph McCafferty

jmccafferty@directorship.com