For many professionals, silence can become a quality that defines a professional career. When one does not ask questions or express opinions, it is typically a sign that they are either over-confident in their abilities or unwilling to admit that they don’t know everything. Whatever the reason, silence cannot afford to be a trait in the boardroom.
With the recent departure of Citi’s CEO, this video has some timely insights: CEO Expectations of the Board
What do CEOs need most from their board?
Virtually every aspect of corporate America has been affected by the adoption of new technology. Social networks and collaboration technologies are revolutionizing and changing the way companies are run, products are made, information is shared and the way employees are recruited. There is one aspect of non-profit, private and public companies, however, that has made little-to-no progress when it comes to innovation – and that’s the way corporate boards are recruited and managed.
The most recent research conducted by Discussion Partner Collaborative supported by the Transition Advisory work of Next Generation Advisory Services (NGAS) has concluded that post-employment Executives will focus their time on 14 areas of involvement.
In late October, the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal offered a think piece from a corporate governance leader I much respect, Charles Elson, who heads the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. In the essay, Elson examines why it’s usually smarter and more effective (plus cheaper) for companies to seek CEO successors from within the company. While it’s conventional wisdom that companies are better off growing their own CEOs, the Elson article lists the actual benefits of picking an internal successor.
One of the ongoing challenges facing board portal applications is how to stay relevant on the desktops and mobile devices of Board Members, Executives and other governance professionals when they are using a bevy of software solutions to facilitate and augment their daily workflows. Fighting for shelf space, if you will, is a daunting task for any board portal provider, but there are three key elements that need to be achieved in order to break in to the top five applications that directors and executives will use every day, before, during and after regularly scheduled meetings.
Last year, with our blog post, “A drop in the bucket” we addressed the Boston program designed to incent Boston nonprofits to hire additional employees with credits against their PILOT (Payments in Lieu of Taxes.) Now, a study has come out of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy which says PILOT programs are, in not so many words, a waste of time.
New York just became the first state in the US to require law-school graduates to have performed 50 hours of pro bono legal work in order to qualify to practice the law. The work must be performed after the end of the first year of law school and before the bar exam is taken. Nonprofit organizations look to, along with the poor and various civil rights groups, be the primary recipients of this enforced largesse.
The recession has caused all sorts of difficulties for CFOs: falling earnings, tumbling stock prices and, occasionally, knotty negotiations with lenders...
Would you choose A or B? It’s a common way of parsing questions, and can serve as a good thought starter. Of course, asking a question in this binary fashion deliberately closes off alternatives (what if your choice is somewhere between A and B? What if you prefer C?) But sharply limiting your alternatives can compel you to weigh what’s really important.
Frank Apicella’s letter to the editor in response to Professor Alan Blinder’s piece October 1st in the Wall Street Journal.
The Boston Globe’s investigation of the ongoing abuses of power within various public housing authorities throughout the state (CLICK HERE) provides demonstrable evidence of the failure of state and federal government to properly oversee an extraordinarily important program. The blame game associated with these scandals is in full-swing – and certainly, there is plenty of blame to go around. However, I think there is a clear winner in terms of whose failures is most directly responsible for the magnitude of these scandals – the boards of directors of these public housing authorities.
With so many nonprofits struggling nowadays, why not look at enforced education as a chance to add value to your nonprofit? Teachers get professional development to maintain their professional certification. Doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals also take classes and engage in professional development. As a CPA, I have to maintain my professional credentials through education. Each and every board member has a fiduciary responsibility to understand the financial information they receive and make decisions for an organization based on this information.
In today’s fast-paced business environment, board software is no longer a nice-to-have extra—it’s an essential strategy for engaging and deriving maximum value from your company’s directors in real time.
As someone who works with business owners and CEOs to form their advisory boards and very often stays on to serve as facilitator I remind them that their advisory board should be managed in a manner that works best for them.
It’s only normal for start-ups to want to beef up their board of directors or advisory board. The phrase “How do I get to (insert big name person in their industry)?” is all too common, as that person is viewed as the one who will put them “on the map.” I call it “chasing the rock star” and it is one of the most common mistakes that a start-up can make. Of course, what start-up in the technology sector wouldn’t want Eric Schmidt (former CEO and now Chair of Google) to serve on their board? The start-up immediately ...
After more than 30 years of working on and with boards, and five years of blogging about nonprofit governance, I have developed my own sense of what it takes to truely lead in the boardroom. An effective nonprofit board can be summed up in four words: inclusive, engaging, accountable, and generative. This blog entry focuses on those four words and how they each create the high-impact, nonprofit board.
As an advisory board facilitator I recommend you consider these nine tips to help your planning
There is a general aversion to legal agreements among many private company owners. The following are the top 10 provisions which should absolutely be included within your corporate advisory board agreement. Despite the fact that I practiced law for more than 10 years, this list (and the advice in this blog post) is from my perspective as a private company business owner with an advisory board, not as a lawyer. As with any legal agreement, you should have your own attorney review the document prior to execution.
