You are leaders in the medical technology sector, operating at the intersection of innovation, regulation, patient outcomes, and commercial performance. With your passion for medtech, many of you are driving operational success today, and some are thinking ahead to expanded governance roles, including serving as a Board Director. The question is: what strategic skills should you be intentionally developing now to prepare for that future?
Board Directors are stewards of long-term value creation. Unlike executive roles that focus on execution, boards focus on oversight, risk governance, capital allocation, and strategy validation. To be effective in such a role, it is important to cultivate enterprise-level thinking. This means moving beyond functional merit, whether in R&D, regulatory, clinical affairs, or commercial, and understanding how each lever affects enterprise risk, return, and resilience.
Central to this mindset is the disciplined use of data in decision-making. In today’s MedTech environment, data is no longer a support function; it is a strategic asset. From clinical evidence, physician feedback, and real-world outcomes data to post-market surveillance signals, supply chain analytics, and reimbursement modeling, data informs nearly every significant board-level discussion. According to the Harvard Business Review article “The Board’s Role in Strategy” (2019), high-performing boards increasingly rely on structured data frameworks to evaluate risk, stress-test strategy, and challenge management assumptions. Directors are expected to review dashboards, and to interrogate the quality, completeness, and relevance of the underlying data.
For MedTech professionals, this means sharpening your ability to translate complex datasets into strategic insights.
Read more and get a summary of the Harvard Business Review article “The Board’s Role in Strategy” [at link to Medi-Vantage]
Are you comfortable questioning whether the clinical endpoints truly support commercial differentiation? Can you evaluate whether predictive analytics are robust enough to inform capital investments? Do you understand how cybersecurity risk metrics tie into enterprise risk oversight? Developing fluency in data governance, AI- propelled analytics, and digital health metrics will position you as a credible future board candidate.
The path to a future Board Director role in MedTech is built now through enterprise thinking, financial acumen, risk oversight, and above all, disciplined, data-driven judgment. Data is not just information; it is the basis for sound governance decisions. The professionals who can interpret it critically, challenge it constructively, and apply it strategically will be those most prepared to serve at the board level.
Reflect on which of these capabilities you are actively developing, and where you might intentionally deepen your experience over the next few years.
Summary of “The Board’s Role in Strategy” (Harvard Business Review)
The HBR article argues that corporate boards should play a far more active and continuous role in strategy than many traditionally do. Rather than simply reviewing and approving management’s plans once a year, effective boards take part in ongoing strategic oversight, scrutinize assumptions, and help shape long-term direction while still respecting management’s role in execution.
Core thesis
The board’s job is not to create strategy, but to ensure the company has a robust, resilient, and future-oriented strategy and that leadership can execute it.
Key ideas
1) Strategy oversight serves as a core governance duty
Boards often spend too much time on compliance, risk, and quarterly results and not enough on strategy. The article stresses that:
Strategy oversight is as important as fiscal oversight
Directors must ensure the company is positioned for long-term value creation, not just short-term performance
2) Boards must move from episodic to continuous engagement
Many boards only discuss strategy during an annual offsite. The article recommends:
Regular strategy discussions throughout the year
Frequent deep dives into market shifts, technology, competitors, and disruption
Treating strategy as a living process, not a yearly presentation
3) Directors should examine and test assumptions
One of the board’s most valuable contributions is constructive skepticism.
Boards should:
Test management’s assumptions about markets and growth
Ask “What could go wrong?” and “What must be true?”
Ensure the company considers disruptive scenarios
This role is especially critical during industry disruption.
4) Strategy and risk are inseparable
The article spotlights the tight link between strategy and risk oversight:
Every strategy entails bets and tradeoffs
Boards must ensure risks are understood and are consistent with risk appetite
Directors should monitor whether the strategy stays viable as conditions change
5) Boards should ensure strategic capability, not just plans
Oversight includes confirming that the organization has:
The right leadership and talent
Capital allocation aligned with strategy
Technology and innovation capabilities
Metrics to track progress
In other words, the board evaluates whether the company can actually execute the strategy.
6) Collaboration with management is essential
Healthy board–management relationships enable strong strategy:
Management owns strategy creation and execution
Boards provide perspective, experience, and independent judgment
The goal is partnership, not micromanagement
Bottom line
High-performing boards treat strategy as a continuous, collaborative, and questioning process. Their role is to ensure the company’s strategy is sound, resilient, and supported by the right capabilities to ensure lasting success.
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