Monique Bachner is an independent director and advisor, serving on several boards and advisory councils. Having begun her career as a corporate lawyer with Magic Circle firms, she now assists boards of directors on legal, regulatory and governance issues, as well as in creating their governance, innovation and digital transformation strategies. Her particular expertise lies at the intersection of ethical, regulatory and governance frameworks. Monique is active in several international working groups relating to governance, ethics, digitisation, decentralisation and regulation. She is a frequent speaker at conferences and training programmes around the world. Monique is an ILA Certified Director an INSEAD IDP-C.
What are the main challenges you’ve faced as a female independent board member?
I have been lucky and don’t think I have faced any board challenges directly related to gender. Cultural or expectation differences can sometimes be tricky, but this is the same for everyone.
How do you handle resistance or skepticism directed at you?
I try to arm myself with research and facts. But in the end the board is a collective, and as a group we need to come to some consensus--no individual should be dictating a particular path forward or we miss the point of being a collective and benefiting from the entire board’s diverse perspectives and experience.
Do you believe gender equality is improving within boards of directors?
Overall yes, but very slowly. Many actors take board diversity (in all aspects) seriously, but still not all.
What is your opinion on quotas for women on boards?
Progress has been slow, so quotas can be helpful. I think there should be a middle ground with targets for ensuring a gender mix on boards, such as at least 33% of each gender.
As a female board member, do you feel a particular responsibility to advocate for gender parity and inclusion?
Yes and no. I am a fan of a healthy gender mix, but not necessarily parity. Professionalising the board recruitment processes is important as we unfortunately continue to see some old club network attitudes with people appointed without considering skills or other competency reviews, or thinking about what the best board mix for this entity could be in future (which might be quite different from what it needed in the past). We need not only more women, but also more young profiles and more directors fluent in new technologies and related skills. Different phases in a company’s lifecycle may also need different personalities--not only startup to growth to established company, but also as strategy changes or during difficult times.
In your view, how does diversity impact a board’s performance?
I am a firm believer that having a diverse mix of skills, competencies and personalities on a board can lead to better discussions, and hopefully more robust decision making. This can make life harder--it means more time and debate. But if a decision is very important, then it also deserves those extra inputs and exchanges.
What solutions or policies could foster better gender parity?
Professionalising the board renewal process by creating a healthy cycle of updating the board skills matrix to ensure it considers skills this board requires for its future, and ensuring this is used as part of the board recruitment process. It is also important to insist on receiving CVs of both sexes--if the process already starts lop-sided it might be a red flag that is isn’t being taken seriously enough.
What advice would you give to a woman hesitating to take this path?
Boards can be very varied and interesting. Let people know you are interested in board roles, and then start slowly. The first year on any new board is a big learning curve--leave yourself the time to get to know the entity, the various actors, the sector.
What advice would you give to a young woman who wants to make her mark in society?
Be curious. Boards and board members must constantly evolve. A commitment to lifelong learning to keep adapting and evolving is essential. Be curious about new trends and technologies even if they seem not yet of relevance. As a caution, make sure a new board role also fits your goals, and that it’s clear what skills and experience are required and what other expectations there are.