By Julie Garland McLellan on November 19, 2010
This blog post explores the use of detailed board minutes and the risks of inadvertent disclosure.
By Julie Garland McLellan on November 5, 2010
This post examines some of the differences in thinking between managers and directors. It explains how to assist when a novice director needs help in making the required changes to their thinking.
By Julie Garland McLellan on October 11, 2010
Boards need to discuss horrible ideas: the idea that your product might no longer be relevant to your target market, the idea that your staff might prefer to work elsewhere, or that your technology might leave you unable to deliver goods and services. These are not issues that management like to talk about and, indeed, [...]
By Julie Garland McLellan on October 1, 2010
Company directors on not-for-profit boards are often required to make substantial donations to the cause, or to elicit substantial donations from their network. Those that can’t or won’t become major benefactors are, more or less subtly, removed from the boardroom. But does this model sit well with current notions of directors’ responsibility and the professionalization [...]
By Carter McNamara on September 30, 2010
Our firm regularly gets calls, asking about the differences between for-profit and nonprofit Boards. Although there are certain differences, there are more similarities than people often realize. Misconceptions often stem from the belief that nonprofits have to have a Board because they’re nonprofits. Not true. Chartered, or registered, nonprofits have to have a Board because [...]
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 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 June 17, 2010
One of the most vexed issues when talking to people who aspire to company directorship is the simple question, ‘What does it take to be a director?’ There are few satisfactory responses. There are courses (some of which are very good and comprehensive) but none of these are accepted as proof that an aspiring director [...]