It’s all about how you ensure that the boards of the future protect us from the disasters over the last couple of years.

I too believe that diversity is one of the keys. Homogeneous boards are complacent and risky. Complacent because it means that the organisations are careless about understanding the modern world and don’t care enough about their brands to adapt and stop hiding behind the old excuses like: “oh but we try so hard but there just aren’t enough people out there”. Risky because homogenous boards develop group think and don’t see some things coming.

But there are two forms of diversity that always seem to be forgotten: age and language.

If all your board is of one generation it will miss things that are intuitive to other generations. And on language: how may British international boards speak enough languages to really claim to be international?

-    Julia Middleton was recently interviewed by Knowledge Peers on managing and sustaining effective boards for not-for profit organisations. You can sign up for Knowledge Peers membership here.

-    About Time is a multi-faceted campaign supported by the Government Equalities Office, Anchor Trust and Common Purpose in the UK. The campaign will increase the number of people involved in public life across the UK, by overcoming barriers that get in the way of participation. At the core of the About Time campaign is the notion that diversity is critical to a board’s ability to spot issues and trends.

I fly into Germany and do not take the time to sort out my head and remind myself that I am going to be speaking to a German audience, not a UK audience, so I must treat them more carefully and with more respect, and not assume so much. Or I charge from one meeting to another and don’t take the time to prepare. I don’t mean preparation like reading the papers, I do that. But this is more a case of getting my head round the different people, behaviours and agendas.

But if I put my mind to it, I do think I can adapt to a lot.

The thing that I realise, but can’t get my head around, is being in places where there is no freedom of speech. I can’t figure out how to be when I know I can’t speak freely. When I can’t build a relationship with someone by being candid. When being candid makes you someone to avoid.

Experiencing this recently has made me far better at appreciating what freedom of speech gives us. I suspect I have always taken it for granted. I also understand better that with freedom of speech comes freedom to think and freedom to make friends.

I wrote that down fast when the chair of a Strategic Health Authority in the UK said it to me the other day. What’s the point in talking things through with people who agree with you? So why do we spend our time doing it? And why do we get so worried when people do have different views? And why do we do we believe that homogenous teams are the most successful?

 I went to a lunch with that Morgan Tsvangirai , who was in London as part of his “European Safari.” He tried to explain just how impossible it is in his culture for the young to challenge an old man. He said that it was simply inconceivable, and so deeply disrespectful as to be unthinkable.

I tried so hard to understand. The expression “Respect your elders” was almost a tease in my childhood home and has never been used in my own family. My children would laugh me out of the house.

It is such a deep, deep difference. While I am in China, I need to keep it at the front of my mind or I will appear rude.

The difference that strong, confident leadership produces is wonderful and its biggest impact can be on the leader; a leader who does not need to resort to arrogance or bullying from a distance to express themselves.