By Carter McNamara on April 23, 2011
(See Part 1 of 2) Relationship Model Steven Block proposes a model that, instead of having a rigid, top-down structure of roles and hierarchy of the traditional policy model, provides for Board and staff members to work together with great priority on generating relationships and value from those relationships. The Executive Director and staff play [...]
By Julie Garland McLellan on April 18, 2011
When the Lead Independent Director role was first introduced it was viewed with suspicion. Now, in companies where the incumbent has performed well, it is viewed as an essential component of board success.
By Julie Garland McLellan on January 31, 2011
Leadership development is an important aspect of the director role, and not just something that is recommended for executives. All directors should review their own leadership skills from time to time and determine what and how to improve.
By Julie Garland McLellan on December 29, 2010
Three common issues that can hamper even skilled, ethical and intelligent directors: conflicted relationships, committee thinking and shareholding!
By Carter McNamara on December 10, 2010
As demands for Board effectiveness and accountability continue to grow, research and discussions about how Boards might operate differently, continue to grow, as well. There are a variety of new ideas for Board models. Networked Governance David Renz suggests that the effectiveness of governance could be enhanced when we realize that governance can include organizations [...]
By Julie Garland McLellan on August 27, 2010
The role of the board changes as the company grows and the management team becomes more diverse, with a wide range of experts who can contribute to strategy in different ways. A company passes through several stages in its life cycle. In the first stage ‘Start-up’ strategy is developed and implemented by the founder and [...]
By Julie Garland McLellan on August 13, 2010
It has often been said that there is no place in the boardroom for a director who does not understand the business. Now we need to consider if there is room for one who does not understand internet enabled connectivity. Directors need to understand both the risks and the opportunities presented by the internet in [...]
By Carter McNamara on August 3, 2010
This is a guest post from Steven R Roberts Non-Profit Boards, charities, foundations must fight to establish a brand and a following. Therefore they must be led boldly or their missions will have little chance of being fulfilled. After chairing several non-profit boards, and being on a couple of for-profit boards, in the past twenty-five [...]
By Julie Garland McLellan on July 31, 2010
Recent calls by the governance advisory community for the individual voting record of each director to be disclosed to shareholders are missing an important aspect of boardroom dynamics – joint and several liability.
By Julie Garland McLellan on July 8, 2010
Jeff Jarvis’ latest book ‘What Would Google Do’ envisions the ways in which running businesses the way Google is run would change industries. It is impossible to read this book without having a few innovative ideas of your own. It got me thinking ‘What would Google do if they regulated boards or designed corporate governance [...]