It really is all about people.

• Position: EDITOR'S NOTE - Editorial

How many editors have the opportunity to put out a 10th, a 15th, a 20th, a 25th, a 30th, and now a 35th anniversary edition of their publications? Some wags might retort: Who would want to? Well, I wanted to. I never tired of exploring in these pages what makes boards tick.

The theme of this anniversary issue is "It's All About People." Sure, there is a lot of process in how boards work that needs to be analyzed. Our authors have certainly done their fair share of critiquing board process. In cases where boards individually or collectively have been misguided in their governing ways, they have readily suggested more constructive practices.

But for an editorial philosophy I have always operated on this proposition: Having the right people on the board can overcome less than ideal processes for doing well by the company and its shareholders (and stakeholders), but the best processes cannot surmount the weaknesses (even danger) of having the wrong people on the board.

Everyone has his or her own definition of what corporate governance is. Mine has always been a people-centric one: Corporate governance is a group of bright, accomplished people sitting around a board table trying to make good decisions on behalf of the company and its stakeholders. The human dynamics element is what has kept me interested in being editor of this journal for three decades.

In the normal course of business life, you don't get to be a director by being a dunderhead. (Some more battle-scarred veterans of board service might argue with me on that point!) I do believe that you have to have some special...