Tag Archives: #goodgovernance

Risk – the forgotten axis

Almost every week another building, usually in Wellington, is evacuated because it’s deemed ‘Earthquake Prone’ and either covered in plastic sheeting or left to rot, while the hapless owners consider how they’ll afford the repairs and strengthening that the engineers have mandated. This week for a change it was the turn of the South Island’sContinue reading “Risk – the forgotten axis”

Three things they don’t teach you at ‘Board Boot Camp’

Nobody’s born a director. We don’t grow into being a governor, the way we do with walking, talking, parenting, or making a success of a job.

Becoming an effective director requires a range of technical, social and communication skills, contributing as one of a group, rather than as individuals.

Over the years, I’ve found that a few things – ways we approach the role – typically aren’t taught, but can make a huge difference …

Before the main course – 

Do you recognise this board? Directors arrive shortly before the scheduled start; you take your places, open your board packs and work your way through the agenda, item by item; as the chair closes the meeting, you shut your pack, gather your iPad and phone, and head to the taxi. Other than exchanging a fewContinue reading “Before the main course – “

The shift we’ve been expecting in Air New Zealand’s strategy?

Has Air New Zealand’s market strategy changed – or is it simply now more obvious? I’ll start by saying that I have been a relatively frequent, usually satisfied, flyer with Air New Zealand for a long time (my Frequent Flyer number has five digits and I’ve accumulated 14 ‘banked years’ of membership). In the lastContinue reading “The shift we’ve been expecting in Air New Zealand’s strategy?”

Four times twice as much: how the Chair’s job has grown.

The latest edition of the Australian Company Director magazine quotes a senior board chair describing how the role has evolved in recent years: For the mathematically challenged, I think she’s saying that a board chair today has about eight times the typical workload an NED had, only a few years ago.  People unfamiliar with theContinue reading “Four times twice as much: how the Chair’s job has grown.”

Ten minutes that will transform your (Zoom) board meetings

I’d guess that most of us have held more board meetings virtually than in person over the last 18 months. Remote meetings, still a rarity two years ago, are business as usual and here to stay. We’re learning how to make the most of them:  To interpret non-verbal signals (aka body language) from only ourContinue reading “Ten minutes that will transform your (Zoom) board meetings“

When your board member is the subject expert: three hidden traps

How often do we hear boards discussing the type of skills they’d like to attract … ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we had an engineer/micro-biologist/blockchain expert on the board?’ I’m fully in favour of making sure our boards have people with the right skills and experience for the business. We’ve all heard of corporate train-wrecksContinue reading “When your board member is the subject expert: three hidden traps”

The Four Levels of Board Maturity … and what you need to do about yours

Some people tower over their profession: Albert Einstein – physical sciences, Chuck Yeager – test flying, Florence Nightingale – nursing (and statistics – check her out). In corporate governance, few are as respected as Professor Bob Garratt, author of ‘The Fish Rots from the Head’. It’s an excellent metaphor to illustrate his discussion of board leadership, albeit,Continue reading “The Four Levels of Board Maturity … and what you need to do about yours”

The Wisdom of Wimbledon: Covered Are We

After the SARS outbreak of 2003, someone on the board of the All-England Club (or, more correctly, the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club), which runs the annual Wimbledon Tournament, asked exactly the right question: ‘What if …’ ‘What if we had another event like SARS and had to cancel?’ As a result, the ClubContinue reading “The Wisdom of Wimbledon: Covered Are We”