As the global business landscape becomes increasingly complex, Board Directors today are confronted with the growing expectations of multiple stakeholders, across a myriad of issues.

Ambitious digital-driven companies are now creating and cornering new markets in every sector. And yet, most legacy businesses continue to operate by old playbooks. Most are not keeping pace with the changes in their industry, let alone leading the way.

There is a touch of irony in how some of the world's most profitable companies are not profit-oriented but instead built on a foundation of purpose-driven goals.

Boards tend to have an easier time ensuring effectiveness and preserving value than to drive for performance, often delegating to management.

As companies and businesses operate in an increasingly VUCAD (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous and disrupted) environment, the capability and agility to stay competitive through innovation is vital to sustainable growth.

An explosion in the use of digital technologies is changing the dynamics of competition across many industries. We see in the news almost daily about how traditional firms are being disrupted by nimble and technology-savvy competitors.

Even though boards are painfully aware of the potential corporate exposure to a broad range of cyber-threats, value destroying breaches at major multinational corporations continue to be headline news almost every week.

The Board's main responsibility is to steward its institution through risks and opportunities. Nonetheless, boards are also at risk—their exposure goes beyond the immediate success or failure of the institution they supervise—they need to balance long-term stewardship with short term survival.

In a world where competitive conditions shift more rapidly and forcefully than ever before, Boards rightly spend a great deal of time discussing and validating the organisation's strategy. But as important as strategy is, it is often said that "culture eats strategy for breakfast".

Several unstoppable external forces are transforming nations, industries, and corporations. For legacy companies, these forces are disruptive, if not destructive.

Talent is a key differentiator of corporate performance - boards must manage and monitor the risks it poses.

The inaugural session of the Directors-in-Dialogue series provides the latest thinking on how Board Directors can make a leadership difference by knowing when to take charge, when to partner and when to get out of the way.