Speaking Power: Strategic Talk and Boundary-Spanning in Boardroom Governance Exploring Communicative Competence through the BACS Typology

Abstract This study examines how directors use strategic talk in boardrooms to shape decisions, navigate power, and influence organisational direction. Addressing limitations in dominant governance paradigms, it explores the lived communicative practices of elite decision-makers. Using ethnographic observation and Critical Discourse Analysis, it introduces the Boardroom Attributes, Characters and Skills (BACS) Typology comprising linguistic skill, contextual awareness, and interpersonal dynamics to analyse how governance is performed through interaction. Findings reveal that strategic talk serves not only to advance agendas but also to perform boundary work, construct legitimacy, and foster dialogical spaces. These practices are relational and context-dependent, often obscured by formal governance models. The BACS framework highlights how communicative competence varies across individuals and is shaped by power structures such as seniority and symbolic capital. The study advocates for more inclusive, reflective boardroom cultures by foregrounding discursive skill and contextual sensitivity. It challenges static governance models and contributes a nuanced understanding of how legitimacy and strategic influence are constructed through language. The BACS Typology offers both theoretical insight and practical relevance for enhancing strategic dialogue in elite settings.