Directorships - Hands too Full?

How many directorships are too many? Normative advice would emphasize the importance of limiting the number of directorships any individual should hold due to the workloads and responsibility they entail. The burden of holding directorships is still onerous notwithstanding the size of the company or whether they are dormant or not.
Typically, we do see directors who serve larger firms and boards are more likely to attract directorships. So is it a case of “A Few Good Men” on the merry-go-round serving many boards? Or is it a case where directors are luminaries or well-known public figures put on boards with little roles except to lend credence to the companies?
The impact of multiple directorships on corporate diversification is real and may affect the quality of oversight and thus influence the degree of their contributions to the companies’ values. Specifically, I find that directors’ busyness is inversely related to his or her contribution to the companies’ value. In other words, companies where board members hold more outside board seats are likely to have the directors suffering attention deficit especially if they are nominated to sit on sub-committees that have oversight roles. The negative effect of having overcommitted directors on the board cannot be discounted and in fact must be more pronounced in listed public companies where they are put under the spotlight during crisis or at any extraordinary meetings.
I am not suggesting that multiple directors shirk their responsibilities to serve on board committees or that multiple directorship are associated with a greater likelihood of neglect, collegial group-think or lapses.
Too Busy to Mind the Business? Is it really a case of a few good men or women for the jobs? Whether we deal with one hand or the other hand, we still only have 10 fingers to have a grip on the cards we want to deal. So long as the cards are not drop, all things will be well.