The Fish Rots from the Head: The Crisis in Our Boardrooms - Developing the Crucial Skills of the Competent Director [Paperback]

‘This book helps directors strike the essential balance between directing and managing’
Sir Adrian Cadbury

‘Garratt has a gift for synthesizing things in a beautifully clear and succinct way’
Charles Handy

Set against today’s backdrop of boardroom scandal and incompetence, an important book that clarifies the tasks and liabilities of the board and provides a programme of learning.

An organization’s success or failure depends on the performance of its board. Yet the majority of directors around the world (92% in Britain) admit that they have had no training for their role and are not sure what it entails.
The Cadbury and Greenbury reports have highlighted the problems this causes, but there has been little published to help the director understand exactly what is demanded of his role, or to achieve the levels of skill and competence required – until now.
Bob Garratt, highly respected international management consultant, describes why directors need to move on from hands-on managing and develop a broader, more intellectual mindset – and explains how, in a practical way, they can achieve this.
Since directors are personally liable for corporate failure, none can afford to ignore this book, the first to clarify this area of strategy.

An organization's success or failure depends on the performance of its board – an ancient Chinese saying is that 'the fish rots from the head'. Yet the vast majority of directors admit that they have had no training for their role and are not sure what it entails.

As boards' activities are made more and more transparent under national and international law, there is an urgent need for a transformation in the way directors' competencies are developed.

Bob Garratt argues that directors need to learn new thinking skills to apply to the intellectual activities of direction-giving and implementing strategy. They need to develop a broader mindset to deal with the uncertainty of higher-level issues such as policy formulation, strategic thinking, supervision of management and accountability.

'The Fish Rots from the Head' is the first book to clarify and integrate the roles and tasks of the director and provide a programme of learning. As the tide of regulation swells, no board director can afford to ignore it.

'No director can afford to ignore this book'
SIR ADRIAN CADBURY

'An important contribution to the corporate governance debate and clear and intelligent advice on how to improve the performance of a board'
TIM MELVILLE-ROSS, 'Institute of Directors, London'

'This clear, very readable book should ensure that many more fish swim rather than rot'
SIR MICHAEL BETT, 'Chairman, Cellnet plc'

Bob Garratt is editor of the Successful Manager and Strategist series and author of The Learning Organization and Learning to Lead. He has worked in many European countries, the USA, Australia and New Zealand and has been developing management education in China and Hong Kong since 1976.