Welcome to The Savvy Director⢠blog, a place to engage on board governance topics as you travel the path to being a savvy director.Â
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âA crystal ball?â
That was the first reaction from the CEO of a multi million-dollar tourism not-for-profit when I asked her what she needs from her board, right now. Laughter aside, the crystal ball comment was followed by some great insights from inside the storm we know as COVID-19.
I then emailed the same question to a dozen other CEOs, male and female, across regions, from organizations large and small, for profit and not-for-profit, private companies and government departments, from pro ...
If youâre like me, your email inbox has been filling up with information from various businesses about how they are responding to the challenges presented by COVID-19. And if you sit on a board of directors, you have likely been hearing from your management team as they implement their business continuity plan (assuming they have one!) in the face of this health crisis.
The business risk resulting from a pandemic was incorporated into some plans as a response to the outbreaks of SARS and H1N1...
Iâm happy to welcome back Alice Sayant as todayâs guest blogger. Alice is a certified corporate director (ICD.D) and co-founder of DirectorPrep.com.
We are fortunate at DirectorPrep to have a group of engaged fellow board directors who seem to be quite willing to act as guinea pigs and to provide feedback on our ideas.
The inspiration for todayâs blog arose from just that kind of feedback. As we tested out a framework for ...
This edition of The Savvy Director is inspired by feedback from one of our readers about the maturity lifecycle of boards. As this reader pointed out, âItâs important that directors understand the maturity of their organization, where they fit on the maturity scale, and where the board aspires to be.â
These comments got me thinking about governance models. We all need to appreciate the range of governance models from the hands-on working board to the hands-off policy governance model, and a v...
Iâm happy to welcome back Alice Sayant as todayâs guest blogger. Alice is a certified corporate director (ICD.D) and co-founder of DirectorPrep.com.
The boards that I serve on conduct regular board self evaluations. They often use confidential online surveys for this purpose, since they are a convenient tool for obtaining input from each director on the board. Analyzing the data obtained from this kind of survey can serve as a foundation for...
âHow is it you would rather find the time to rewrite an âFâ grade paper for a better mark than to invest the right amount of time in the first place?â This comment was made by one of my university profs. A truer observation would be hard to find.
There is real power in preparing. Preparation is like prevention -- it reduces the potential for failure and the costs that go with it.
Where am I going with this? Iâm glad you asked.Â
Preparation is the Savvy Directorâs key to success in the boa...
Following last weekâs blog post about conflict of interest, we received some excellent feedback from insightful readers who provided additional points for consideration. In response, weâve decided to defer the post we had planned and instead produce a follow up.
Last weekâs post was written for the director who wants to self-declare a potential conflict of interest. Todayâs post will discuss undeclared conflicts of interest and the problems created between board members by a lack of transpare...
Todayâs edition of >> The Savvy Director⢠<< is focused on the challenges faced by a successful business person who is asked to serve on a government-sponsored agency, board or commission.
You might assume that the shift from a single bottom line (private for-profit) to a double bottom line (government revenue + social benefit) would be the most significant adjustment for the new director. Youâre right. Thatâs part of it. The directorâs role is essentially the same regardless of ownership sce...
Being on a governance board is like running a restaurant. Letâs say you are the original owner but now you have other investors. Youâve hired a renowned chef to run the kitchen. If you keep going back there and adding salt to the soup, you will be looking for a new chef before you know it. You know what I mean? On the board, you represent the owners' interests. Itâs time to get out of the kitchen and leave the cooking to the pros.
You may have started the business as a successful food truck ...
Have you ever returned home or back to the office from a board meeting and asked yourself, âWhy did I say that?â
Me too. In fact, it happened a couple of weeks ago and it wasnât the first time. But the frequency has gone down considerably since Iâve discovered and put to good use the acronym W.A.I.T. (Why Am I Talking?).
As weâve noted in earlier blog posts, the art of asking questions includes waiting for the right time to contribute. And contribute you will with a timely, relevant question...
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