Board Shorts Podcast

The chances are high that you will sit on many different boards throughout your board career. Your boards will likely be in different industries, serve different customers, have different and unique challenges and opportunities, and will have its own culture and structure and context.

To try and build specific skills for each and every permutation would be a long and tedious task. This is where developing the necessary core skills will enable you to have a catalyst for learning and building new, specific, skills faster. These core skills are termed 'meta skills'. I share my list of board member meta skills and how you can master them.

My Five Meta Skills for Board Members:

1. Getting comfortable with Discomfort
2. Curiosity and Courage
3. Self-Awareness
4. Not knowing it all
5. Commitment

Join the Board Talk community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/boardtalk

See full show notes: https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/mastering-key-boardroom-skills-ep-39/

Welcome back to another edition of boardroom insider of the month.

Today I am joined by Rod Buchecker. Rod is a marketing & brand strategist, CEO coach, and board member. Amongst many other roles he holds, Rod currently serves on:

• The Advisory Board of Think 180 Pty Ltd
• The Board of Burnside War Memorial Hospital and is Chair of the Burnside Hospital Foundation, and
• The Board of Adelaide Zoo and Monarto Safari Park, where he is also Chair of Risk and Governance.

Rod's board career extends back to 1994; so he has a lot of wisdom to share and he does so in this episode.

Rod shares

• His pathway to the boardroom
• What he thinks are the essential skill(s) of great board members
• How he sees his professional expertise benefiting organisations via board service.
• The value he gets personally from serving on boards; and
• How he overcame his biggest board career challenge.

Connect with Rod at https://rodbuchecker.com/

Full show notes at https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/boardroom-insider-of-the-month-with-rod-buchecker-ep-38/

My guest today is Brad Waldron. Brad is known for his room-filling energy, infectious humour and battle-proven insights with immediate real-world applications. He has a proven record of helping others to succeed, through harnessing a rare combination of insight, humour and practical strategies to increase performance whilst enabling people to gain more fulfillment from their professional roles. He's a speaker, CEO, executive chairman, strategist, coach, champion, author and winner across sport and business.

I came across Brad when I searched LinkedIn using the phrase 'Corporate Athlete'; as you now know, Brad really does embody that mental image of a corporate athlete. I invited Brad onto the podcast because I know that many of you are playing multiple roles: full-time professional, parent, partner, family member, friend, and board member.

Amongst other things. I want to support you to be successful across all of these roles, and that you maintain the high energy, high output, that you are likely known for, without burning out so that you have a long-term sustainable board career. I am sure that this conversation will inspire and motivate you to be intentional about the roles you choose to play, and that you play them from a 10.

Full show notes: https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/sustainable-board-career-brad-waldron/

Six years ago I had a stroke. It taught me some valuable lessons.

This episode is in recognition of National Stroke Week in Australia (2-8 August 2021).

You can donate to the Australian Stroke Foundation at https://strokefoundation.org.au/ I am also donating 1% of all August course revenue.

Visit https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/academy/

As part of diversity month, I have invited Sunita Miranda onto the podcast to have her share her experiences in the boardroom as a young female of Indian ethnicity with an expertise in marketing and communications.

Sunita has served on boards for nearly 13 years, starting, like many of us, in the NFP sector while working full time and with a young family. Sunita is a testament to sharing your career goals with your partner so that you're all working together, why it's critical as a board member (current or aspiring) to always be educating yourself, and the simple and practical way a board can approach improving its diversity.

Find all of the show notes here: https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/boardroom-insider-of-the-month-with-sunita-miranda-ep-35/

What should one expect from a new director induction / on-boarding program? AND If there is no formal new director on-boarding program in place, for example, in the case of smaller NFP's or private companies, what should one ask from the Chair and CEO to get yourself up to speed as quickly as possible ahead of your first board meeting?

My answer to these questions addresses the two main aspects of board life: the business and the board. I also include the questions that I would be asking the CEO and Chair to get me up to speed and contributing to the board and business ASAP.

For full show notes (including links) visit: https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/welcome-to-the-boardroom-ep-34

When I first read 'The Five Dysfunctions of a Team' by Patrick Lencioni I was struck at how the five dysfunctions of the management team presented in the book are reflected in teams of all kinds, from the sporting field to the boardroom. It's actually one of the best "business books for the boardroom" that I've read.

When I ran into Leadership and Team Development Specialist, Paul Lloyd, recently at an event and he mentioned he was newly accredited in the Patrick Lencioni CAPAPro network, I jumped on the opportunity to invite him onto the podcast to have a conversation about the five dysfunctions of a team as it applies to the boardroom.

Thankfully he accepted and, as suspected, we had a great discussion; covering how dysfunction shows up in the boardroom, how a board begins to overcome their dysfunctions, and what teams who think they're not quite in the dysfunction zone can do to get better.

We also digress into other areas, because when you start to unpack group dysfunction you start to realise that it comes a lot from our personal issues that we bring to the boardroom, our assumptions, and unmet expectations. It doesn't take long into a board career to realise that boards are more about people than they are about pure governance; so I'm certain that any board member (or aspiring board member) will find this conversation valuable.

Full show notes: https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/the-five-dysfunctions-of-a-board-with-paul-lloyd-ep-33/

I'm here to tell you not to quit your day job! Naturally, I'm often asked what people can do to help themselves land their first board role. After heavily advocating that they invest in building, nurturing, and leveraging their network, I recommend that they be REALLY good at their day job; what Cal Newport refers to as being so good they can't ignore you. After all, your expertise is usually the primary reason why you'll be attractive to boards, particularly at the beginning of your board career.

My transition from very small organisation boards, onto the boards of organisations that had day-to-day staff was predicated on my expertise (at that time I was doing marketing and PR). It was a transferable skill set that applied in many organisations and industries.

Additionally, your skill set provides you with what I like to call 'low hanging fruit' when considering which board(s) you may want to initially consider joining at the beginning of your board career; places where your current expertise is most valued. It may be a board or organisation in your industry, or it may be a totally different industry / organisation that has the need for your transferable expertise.

I cover WHY your professional career is vital for your board career, and the three things that I recommend for you to do if you're someone who is in a professional career and is an aspiring board member.

Full show notes: https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/dont-quit-your-day-job-ep-32/

The longer I listen to the news, the more I hear about organisations lurching from one culture crisis to the next. The boardroom is the place where bad culture starts, but it's also where bad culture can – and probably should – die. With the average person spending 90,000 hours of their life at work, workplace culture has an enormous influence and impact on our wellbeing.

In this episode, I'm talking with Samantha McGolrick, a Health and Safety professional. This is actually a conversation NOT about health and safety compliance, but one about helping you as a board member to improve organisational performance and find deeper meaning and purpose in their board role by using their influence to make a positive impact.

Full show notes: https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/leading-with-heart-in-the-boardroom/

The board space can be incredibly overwhelming; there are so many names that apply to boards of directors – some come from legislation and some from tradition. It's no surprise that one of our most-read articles is one describing the various types of 'boards' that you may encounter as you begin and progress your board career.

This podcast discusses the most common types of boards and what makes them different – and a little bit the same – as each other.

Please keep in mind that this list is not exhaustive, and the information is general in nature. As always, seek professional legal advice if you have any questions about your position, board, and/or organisation.

Full show notes here: https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/which-board-is-which-ep-30/