5 Eye-Opening Lessons I’ve Learned From the Boardroom

For most of my working life at Kowloon Motor Bus Company, I have sat slightly to the side of the action. I have been involved in businesses without running them day to day, and that changed me. When you are not the one executing, you lose the comforting illusion that you are in control. At first, that is unsettling. Over time, it becomes clarifying.

Sitting on a board forces you to watch decisions travel. You make them in quiet rooms, then live with the consequences long after the papers are filed away. That distance teaches you things that are hard to learn when you are placed right in the middle of the machinery.

Here are five things I have learned from that position.

1. Decisions do not end when the meeting ends

When you run a business, there is a natural sense of closure once a decision is made. You move on to the next problem. You do not get that relief when you are on a board.

I remember approving what looked like a sensible operational change. The data was solid. The proposal had been carefully prepared. No one objected strongly. But months later, I began to notice subtle shifts — not in the reports but in the atmosphere. Conversations became shorter. Tension crept into places it had not been before. None of it was dramatic enough to trigger alarms, but it was there.

When you do not control execution, you are forced to sit with the long tail of your decisions. What looks tidy on paper can behave very differently in real life. On a board, a decision does not end when it is approved. It lingers. You do not get the reassurance of execution, only the responsibility of watching consequences unfold over time.

2. Efficiency often hides its true cost

Boards are frequently asked to approve decisions framed around efficiency. Cost savings. Optimization. Better use of talent and resources. On the surface, these all appear reasonable.

Efficiency, however, has a habit of externalizing its costs. You may not see them immediately, but they arrive eventually as burnout, turnover or declining service quality.

One discussion in particular stayed with me. A proposal promised clear savings, but only by placing sustained pressure on frontline staff. It was not unethical or reckless, just tight enough to risk tipping the balance. Sitting on the board gave me the space to ask a question that rarely appears in a deck. How long can people absorb this before something gives way?

Research done by the OECD on high-performance work systems shows this pattern clearly. Productivity gains achieved without adequate employee support often unravel over time. Boards are in a position to notice these risks early, but only if they are willing to look past the numbers.

3. People decisions are never just procedural

From a distance, people issues can look administrative. Appointments are approved, promotions are announced, and various transitions are managed. And policies exist to cover most outcomes.

One experience taught me otherwise. A senior colleague who was clearly struggling was under review. Performance was slipping, and tension was beginning to affect the team. The simplest option would have been to let formal process take its course and keep the conversation contained.

Instead, we addressed it earlier and more openly. We listened carefully and spoke directly about what was not working, with care and respect for the individual involved.

Nothing about that decision improved short-term metrics, but its impact was immediate. Meetings became more candid. Concerns surfaced sooner. People spoke more freely because they could see that difficult situations were handled fairly.

Research on psychological safety, led by Harvard professor Amy Edmondson, shows that teams perform better when people believe they will be treated fairly, especially in difficult situations. Boards shape this culture more than they often realize.

4. Control and responsibility are not the same thing

Sitting on a board taught me to stop confusing control with responsibility.

I never wanted to be CEO. I knew early on that I was not suited to finance or day-to-day operations. What I could offer was continuity, communication and a visible commitment to the people who made the organization work. Sitting on the board allowed me to do that without pretending to be something I was not.

That shift changes how you define success. It becomes less about owning everything and more about ensuring the institution remains healthy after you step away.

Research into long-standing family and infrastructure businesses supports this approach. Organizations that survive across generations tend to separate ownership from management deliberately and early. Stewardship lasts longer than control.

5. The quiet decisions are the ones that endure

The most important decisions made in a boardroom rarely feel important at the time. They are seldom dramatic. More often, they involve slowing things down, choosing not to push and absorbing pressure rather than reacting to it. These decisions attract little attention, yet they quietly shape culture, trust and stability over time.

Boards are uniquely positioned to make these calls because they sit slightly removed from urgency. That distance is not a weakness. It is the point. Looking back, the decisions I am proudest of are the ones that allowed things to keep working, without noise or disruption, when no one was watching.

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For most of my working life at Kowloon Motor Bus Company, I have sat slightly to the side of the action. I have been involved in businesses without running them day to day, and that changed me. When you are not the one executing, you lose the comforting illusion that you are in control. At first, that is unsettling. Over time, it becomes clarifying.

Sitting on a board forces you to watch decisions travel. You make them in quiet rooms, then live with the consequences long after the papers are filed away. That distance teaches you things that are hard to learn when you are placed right in the middle of the machinery.