Board development

The most effective boards set their agenda for governing purpose, values & culture.

I work with Chairs, SIDs, CEOs, General Counsel and Company Secretaries to implement recommendations from Board Effectiveness reviews. We design and deliver a tailored board development programme. that builds the Board’s capability to address key questions which might include:

• In a time of austerity, how do we strengthen our culture to focus more on customers and continue to meet shareholder expectations?
• Should we delay paying bonuses until the next tax year when the tax rate is lower?
• How do we cut our headcount without destroying morale and long-term economic performance?
• How can we be sure that everyone in our business is acting consistently with our culture and values?
• How can we build a sustainable business for future generations when we are under pressure just to meet this year’s targets?
• Even though it’s perfectly legal for us to minimise our tax liability, what would the public think? Might this damage our reputation more than the value of the tax avoided?
• In a time of uncertainty how do we balance the competing interests our people, customers and shareholders?
• How do we make sure we are listening to the voice of other stakeholders in our decision making?

Chairs may find Tomorrow’s Chairman, a series of letters to a new chair, a helpful read. Co authored by Patrick Haighton, Tomorrow’s Company; Tim Copnell, KPMG; Richard Emerton, Whitehead Mann and me it is based on our experience and our interviews of directors. It was serialised in the FT during summer 2014.