How to evaluate board members professionally and effectively?
Are you curious about how to evaluate individual board members in a professional, confidential, and development-focused way?
Leadership Advisor Group conducts individual board member evaluations that strengthen leadership impact and team dynamics.
Each evaluation is conducted with integrity, discretion, and complete confidentiality—focusing on insight, development, and measurable improvement.
As a founding member of The International Register of Board Reviewers (TIRBR), we follow globally recognized principles for professional board evaluation, including the evaluation of individual board members, ensuring every engagement meets the highest standards of independence and quality.
Why individual board evaluations matter?
Strong boards are built on capable, self-aware individuals who understand both their personal contribution and their collective responsibility.
Individual evaluations go beyond compliance. They enable each director to contribute more meaningfully to the board’s work and provide valuable insights into individual strengths and areas for development. These insights help the board identify where broader or different experiences, perspectives, and personal qualities could add value, ensuring it remains effective, forward-looking, and focused on creating long-term value.
At Leadership Advisor Group, we design individual evaluations that:
Build trust and accountability within the board
Enable constructive dialogue in the annual one-on-one feedback session between the individual board member and the Chair
Identify opportunities for individual development and succession planning
Strengthen collaboration, team cohesion, and board culture
Our approach combines behavioral insight and objective assessment to help directors understand their unique value and impact.
What does an evaluation of a board member include?
If you are wondering what an individual board member evaluation typically involves, Leadership Advisor Group offers three tailored approaches, depending on your board’s maturity, culture, and objectives.
A fast, focused feedback process where board members assess each other anonymously through a few open-ended questions. It’s confidential, efficient, and offers clear insight into how each member’s contribution is seen by their peers—ideal for establishing a baseline understanding of member effectiveness
A structured, online and anonymous peer-evaluation approach that explores how board members differ in competencies and personal style.
It provides a clear overview of how the board’s diversity of thought, experience, and working styles contributes to overall effectiveness.
Based on confidential feedback visualized through spider charts, this method helps boards see:
• How individuals and the board as a whole balance strengths
• Where renewal or complementary skills may be needed
• How to align recruitment, succession, and development with strategic needs
A fully independent “outside-in” evaluation, including interviews conducted by Leadership Advisor Group.
Each director receives evidence-based feedback benchmarking their contribution, behaviors, and competencies against best practice standards.
Each of these methods can be combined with feedback facilitation and individual coaching sessions, ensuring reflection leads to practical action
Reporting and confidentiality
Before any evaluation begins, the board decides how individual reports will be shared.
Options include:
Reports shared only with the individual, ensuring full privacy; or
Reports shared with both the Chair and the individual, supporting one-on-one feedback sessions; or
Reports shared with the Nomination Committee, allowing structured reflection and board succession planning.
For the Chair’s evaluation, good governance practice recommends sharing the results with the full board to foster openness and mutual understanding. All reports are confidential and presented in a constructive, developmental format.
What makes Leadership Advisor Group’s individual board evaluations different?
At Leadership Advisor Group, individual evaluation is
Independent: We are not linked to executive search firms, audit companies, or digital board platforms.
Experienced: For over a decade, we have worked exclusively with boards across Europe and beyond, building deep insight into global director behavior and dynamics.
Developmental: We focus on constructive dialogue and personal growth.
Data-driven: Findings are based on systematically gathered data reflecting how each board member is perceived by their peers and how they have demonstrated adding value in practice.
The result: independent, evidence-based feedback that is both discreet and actionable—helping boards and their members continuously improve.
Frequently asked questions
What makes an individual board evaluation effective?
An effective evaluation is independent, confidential, and focused on behaviors, contribution, and potential. It provides balanced feedback and clear next steps for development.
Should individual evaluations be combined with a full board review?
Yes. Combining both creates a holistic view—linking individual contribution to overall board effectiveness and team dynamics. However, it could also be used independently to focus specifically on individual and peer-level insights.
How often should individual board members be evaluated?
We recommend a comprehensive individual review every 2–3 years, supported by a simple individual evaluation in between. This is well aligned with most national governance codes.
How are reports shared?
Before the process begins, we agree with the board on sharing preferences. Reports are typically provided to each member and the Chair, but can also be shared with the Nomination Committee to support development discussions.
What is the first step if we want to begin?
We start with a conversation to clarify objectives, determine the right approach (simple individual evaluation, CDP, or external assessment), and confirm confidentiality and reporting preferences.
Ready to strengthen your board’s individual and collective performance?
Independent evaluation is one of the most effective ways to improve both individual contribution and overall board performance.
If you’re considering how to conduct a professional, confidential individual review, we’d be pleased to discuss how our methodology supports board effectiveness.
