Governance as a competitive advantage

In this episode of the Corporate Director Podcast, host Dottie Schindlinger welcomes returning guest Anddria Varnado, board member at Pattern Beauty, Red Robin and Columbia Bank, to explore how the director’s role has evolved from guarding stability to governing continuous transformation. Together they unpack how boards can sharpen their oversight of AI, M&A-driven growth, and capital allocation, redesign agendas to prioritize strategic discussion, and embed learning, curiosity and real-time data into governance. Anddria shares practical steps for building more dynamic, stakeholder-aware boards—and explains why governance quality itself is becoming a key source of competitive advantage heading into 2026.