The challenges for companies and their boards in 2015 will be intense. Topping the list are a volatile economic and geopolitical landscape, the accelerating speed of technology change, and competitive disruption.

The spotlight on corporate directors continues to intensify as regulators and investors (including activists) scrutinize the board’s contribution to strategy, risk, and compliance.

Drawing on insights from our interactions with directors and business leaders over the past 12 months, we’ve flagged eight things—highlighted here and detailed in the full report—that boards should keep in mind as they consider and carry out their 2015 agendas.

• Make time to read the NACD’s new Blue Ribbon Commission Report on Strategy Development.
• Focus on the company’s plans to grow and innovate.
• Consider whether the board needs to recalibrate how its committees communicate and coordinate on risk oversight.
• Reassess the company’s vulnerability to business interruption, and its crisis readiness.
• Promote engagement with shareholders, and prepare for activists.
• Sharpen the board’s focus on cyber risk and security.
• Do we have the right people on the board?
• Set the tone and closely monitor leadership’s commitment to that tone, as well as the culture throughout the organization.