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A director's letter to his chairman: here is how we board members can better help you.

Article Excerpt
In April 2009 I joined the board of Media General, an $800 million diversified media company based in Richmond, Va. The following is a letter I wrote--with input from Innosight board member Richard N. Foster and innosight partner Andrew Waldeck--to Media General Chairman J. Stewart Bryan III after attending my first board meeting.

YOU DON'T NEED ME to tell you the world has changed. Many of us feel like Alan Greenspan, who told Congress last October that he had found a "flaw" in models that had served him well for 40 years--but he wasn't sure how significant or permanent the flaw was. I don't know either, but I do know today's changing world has significant implications for the board.

Let me start with some sobering news: You and the rest of the board are going to have to work hard to develop the right skills to govern in the new era of "creative destruction."

What are the hallmarks of this era? Competitive advantage disappearing in the blink of an eye. Worrying the most about the competitors that...

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