Summary.
Join the board of directors? Yes. The audit committee? No. That’s been the typical response from executives the world over when approached about board service—particularly in the past few years. After all, who in their right mind would want to trade sailing, golf, and exotic travel for the increasingly complex (not to mention high-profile) new world of financial disclosure and reporting? Since the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) legislation in 2002, audit team members have had to adapt to new constraints on operating frameworks and committee composition and endure longer and more frequent meetings filled with all manner of compliance minutiae, while putting their own reputations on the line.