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205 students
Boardroom Conflict Resolution
How to Reframe Conflict to Become a Powerful Tool in the Boardroom
Created byPaul Dubal
Last updated 1/2026
English
What you'll learn
- To provide students with an understanding of why and how conflict can occur in the boardroom, and what it looks like.
- Provide a comprehensive set of tools and strategies for managing and resolving conflict in a constructive way that enhances board cohesion and dynamics
- How to address the problem of underperforming directors, often a significant cause of boardroom conflict
- Examining the role and attributes of the various stakeholders, including the Chair and board secretary, to foster a collegiate boardroom environment.
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Course content
12 sections • 40 lectures • 3h 24m total length
Requirements
- No specific qualifications, however a basic understanding of how corporate and other boards operate would be helpful.
Description
Summary/Purpose: The word ‘Conflict’ often conjures up negative visions of antipathy, arguments and fighting, and so we regard it with fear, something to be avoided. However, if conflict is managed in the right way, it can be a source of enlightenment and creativity, a chance to consider alternative and innovative approaches to problem solving. This course is designed to identify some of the common sources of conflict in the boardroom, why they occur and what can be done to ensure healthy conflicts that upgrade the vibrancy and diversity of the board’s thought leadership and accompanying debates. This in turn will lead to comprehensive, high-quality decision-making that can take an organization forward with confidence.
Content: The course focuses on why conflict is all around us and how we can reframe our approach to conflict as a powerful tool in the boardroom. We examine the mindset and ground rules to promote healthy debate and examine the key roles of the board secretary and the Chair in creating the culture, environment, and systems to facilitate and resolve board conflicts. This includes analysis of the conflict resolution strategies that can be used to create a unified and high performing board that supports every decision made. Although the board acts as a collective, the personal attributes of each individual director are an important ingredient to its ultimate success. We identify and consider personal skills, conduct and attributes required to contribute to the strength of the board, particularly from an EQ perspective.
Outcomes and Benefits: You will walk away with a different perspective around conflict in the boardroom, able to reframe it in a way that considers the potential benefits of a well-managed conflict. You will be clear on the personal attributes required to manage and resolve conflict, for the chair, secretary, and individual directors, and take to your board clear strategies to resolve conflicts and promote healthy debate and in doing so enhance your credibility and reputation.
Who this course is for:
- Corporate and board secretaries, board and Committee Chairs, individual directors, boards (as a collective), and any senior management team member or governance professional that interacts with or supports the governance function and/or the board in their organization; and anyone that is interested in becoming a board director in the future.