Board Shorts Podcast

A recent conversation with an aspiring board member inspired me to capture my thoughts on this topic on the podcast. The focus of the conversation is a common situation that I see aspiring board members confront. Recording this episode will enable me to help more people work through this stage of their board career than I could get to by having a series of one-to-one conversations.

Aspiring board member Steve reached out to me via LinkedIn and asked to have a conversation about his intentions to get onto boards. He was just joining two volunteer-based boards and was considering completing a governance course in the new year with the view to securing two paid board roles thereafter. And this was all in the context of him transitioning his professional career into a portfolio career. This may sound similar to your board career or board ambitions; a desire to secure a paid board role and seeing formal governance education as the logical box to tick to be able to get to paid board roles.

In this episode, I share my recommendations to Steve (and to you) on a better way to approach your board career; one that will get you further, faster by actually going slower.

How to Set a Board Goal

Setting and Calibrating your Board Goal

Developing your Unique Value Proposition

Demonstrating your Unique Value Proposition

Networking for Board Success Workbook

See the full show notes here: https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/what-to-do-before-seeking-a-board-role-ep-79/

'Tis the season to be attending many functions. But how do you choose which events, functions, and parties to show up to? And how do you get the most out of the events you are attending (i.e. to support your board ambitions)?

I share three questions to ask yourself so that you can use your board goals as a guide to choose which events you attend so that you're not over-exerting yourself by going to every function you're invited to. You're being strategic with your time, money, and energy, and you will get further, faster with your board goals.

Links to Articles mentioned in episode:

How to Set a Board Goal: https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/how-to-set-a-board-goal/

Five Considerations when Networking for a Board Position: https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/five-considerations-when-networking-for-a-board-position/

Five More Considerations when Networking for a Board Position: https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/five-more-considerations-when-networking-for-a-board-position/

If you would like to support the Stroke Foundation to prevent stroke, save lives, and enhance recovery, please visit https://strokefoundation.org.au/

See the full show notes here: https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/leveraging-events-to-build-your-board-career-ep-78/

This episode was inspired by a recent conversation I had with a friend about her board career and the goals she has for it. We quickly got onto the topic of governance-centred courses, which is a common consideration for aspiring board members.

We also got onto the topic of board recruitment and the commonly desired and required attribute of candidates is that they can demonstrate that they have completed a particular governance-centred course, rather than focusing on the corporate governance experience or expertise gained through other avenues.

It became clear that there are two sides to the conversation about qualifications for board members: one from the aspiring board member perspective (when looking to join a board or further their board career), and one from the board perspective (when considering potential new board members).

So, that's what is covered in this episode. I unpack:

• The perception that you need a qualification to be on a board.
• If there is a particular governance course you should invest in.
• Why a qualification doesn't make someone a great board member.
• How to navigate a board's candidate's required/desired governance education/qualification.
• How your board goals influence your governance education investment, including actual board service.
• The important of a comprehensive board search strategy for aspiring board members.
• How boards can be clearer when communicating desirable board candidate attributes, particularly as it relates to corporate governance knowledge and application.

Find the full show notes here: https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/qualifications-for-board-members-ep-77/

Jasleen Kaur and I dig into diversity and inclusion, what the state of the nation is regards to the work done so far, how organisations can make meaningful progress and impact, how to avoid tokenism, where to find diverse candidates (for your board or organisation), and how individual accountability and consequences are key in achieving desired inclusion outcomes. I didn't want this to be another diversity and inclusion conversation; there's a lot of those out there already (including episodes 61, 23, and 2 of this podcast). I asked Jasleen to share the grassroots thinking and approaches that any board can adopt to make real progress towards their inclusion and diversity goals. And if you're wondering which comes first – diversity or inclusion – that's the first question we tackle in this episode.

About Jasleen Jasleen is a Senior Principle in Gartner's Human Resources Research and Advisory Practice, based in Sydney. As part of her role at Gartner (a global research and consulting firm), she partners with Heads of HR and their talent management teams across the world, to drive their strategic decision-making and implementation in areas of Diversity and Inclusion, Talent Analytics, Performance Management and Wellbeing, using Gartner's evidence-based research.

Connect with Jasleen on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasleen-kaur-she-her-hers-34809459/

Check out Gartner's articles on Inclusion and Diversity https://www.gartner.com.au/en/human-resources/insights/diversity-equity-inclusion

Find the full show notes here: https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/how-to-do-diversity-and-inclusion-in-any-organisation-with-jasleen-kaur-ep-76/

I recently asked the members of my Board Talk Community what they felt is the most challenging part of STARTING their board journey. The majority of people responded that not knowing where to find board opportunities was their biggest challenge. So, I thought I would respond to that challenge in this episode because you may be feeling or experiencing the same challenge. To that end, I cover three places where you can find board opportunities: through advertisements, by using board recruiters, and through your network.

Download the Networking for Board Success resource: https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/networking-for-board-success.pdf

Find the full show notes here: https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/where-to-find-board-opportunities-ep-75/

Strategy and strategic planning are things that I see many boards struggle with. I feel like strategy is one of those things that you understand when you see it, but defining it is difficult. You know a good strategy when you see one, but getting to that point feels difficult, unclear, and challenging. Once you've gone through a strategic planning process, and have a strategy, the next thing to consider is execution – and getting that right is a whole other kettle of fish. So, to help clarify strategy – what is it, how it's done, keeping execution on track, and measuring the right things, I'm thankfully joined by Simon Starr – a business coach and strategy facilitator for more than a decade. Simon simplifies the world of strategy and strategic planning with easy-to-understand and easy-to-apply concepts and definitions for any organisation. I learned a lot from this conversation, and I hope you do too. Connect with Simon https://www.hoodsweeney.com.au/about/directors/simon-starr-director-performance-coaching Find the full show notes here: https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/simplifying-strategy-with-simon-starr-ep-74/

Every board needs a solid connection with their CEO. And every CEO needs a solid connection with their board. The Board-CEO relationship is dynamic and, done well, enables an organisation to be successful, sound, and solid. Done poorly, the organisation can reel from crisis to crisis; under-performing and drawing criticism from people inside and outside the organisation. It's a tough place for a Board and organisation to come back from. Thankfully there are practices and principles that are simple to introduce and maintain to keep the Board-CEO relationship firing on all cylinders, even in the face of crisis or uncertainty.

As a follow-up to a recent webinar I hosted for BoardPro about why every board needs a solid connection with their CEO (https://www.boardpro.com/resource-centre/webinars/why-every-board-needs-a-solid-connection-with-their-ceo2), I'm answering a handful of questions that weren't answered during the webinar due to our limited time in the live presentation. And I thought what a great idea to bring back my 'CEO whisperer' (and my husband) Jerry Kleeman to give us the view from the other side of the table – I bring the board perspective, he brings the CEO perspective – and answer these questions with a wider lens than the pure governance view shared in my recent webinar.

Some of the questions we answer:

• What essential skills are required for CEOs to succeed in future?
• How do you handle a board that continues delving into operational issues during board meetings?
• How significant is a strong Emotional Intelligence for a CEO?
• How do you get a CEO or Board Member to "realise" it's time to go, and what if they still don't?
• What does the CEO do if you have a Board that doesn't properly understand the business?

Thanks to our sponsor BoardPro Visit boardpro.com/boardshorts and use the promo code boardshorts – all one word, lowercase – to get a 30-day free trial AND 20% off the price of your first year on any plan.

Full show notes here: https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/building-a-solid-board-ceo-relationship-with-jerry-kleeman-ep-73/

There's a quick, inexpensive, and easy tool that can help your Board to build its bench strength. That tool is a Board Skills Matrix. But before you tune out before you tune in, what I share in this episode is how to take this simple tool that many boards are using and beef it up to make it do double or even triple duty for your board and your organisation. Board skills matrices are underutilised.

There are simple ways that this tool can be used by boards to, of course, build a skills-based board, but also to increase board diversity, know when and which employees to hire, inform board members' professional development investment (time and/or money), and help direct your board and senior management succession planning and recruitment activities. Whether it's time to set, or refresh, your board's skills matrix, this episode will help it to become a comprehensive and meaningful tool to establish and maintain a board that delivers high value to the organisation, and that impacts and influences other conversations aimed towards having the best (most effective, efficient, and committed) board for your organisation.

Full show notes here: https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/a-tool-to-help-your-board-build-its-bench-strength-ep-72/

I started my board career in 2009 at a local sport club. Thirteen years later I am on the board of a national charity and have a business education aspiring and current board members on governance and thriving in the boardroom.

In this episode I share my board story: my board career journey, what I have achieved along the way, and what I've learned over this journey. The three lessons I share at the end of this conversation – along with insights along my board journey – I hope inspires you to move forward with confidence in your board career journey.

Full show notes here: https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/my-board-story-ep-71/

Georgia Henry is the founder and CEO of Henry Reed, a specialist culture and leadership consultancy and advisory business that partners with organisations and people leaders to drive positive culture change for meaningful and measurable impact.

Georgia is on the Board Shorts Podcast to share her perspectives and expertise on organisational culture and, particularly, the Board's role in changing, shaping, and keeping their finger on the pulse of their culture in the boardroom and the culture throughout their organisation.

As a culture expert with global knowledge and more than 30 years of experience in organizational culture, leadership, organisation design and human resources, Georgia understands how important the human experience of work is to the success of any business. Georgia blends this experience with her governance experience from the boards of global, national, and local businesses across diverse industries.

Our conversation explores the definition of culture (important because of the buzzword status that culture carries), how you can begin to understand the culture you have, how your organisation optimises opportunities for creating competitive advantage, mitigate risks from behaviours, and deliver improved financial and non-financial results through your culture; how your board begins to craft its own culture, along with your organisation's culture; and how your organisation can leverage culture as a strategic advantage.

Connect with Georgia Website: www.henryreed.com.au

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgiahenry-henryreed

Full Show Notes Here: https://getonboardaustralia.com.au/culture-in-and-beyond-the-boardroom-ep-70/

Thanks to our sponsor BoardPro Visit boardpro.com/boardshorts and use the promo code boardshorts – all one word, lowercase – to get a 30-day free trial AND 20% off the price of your first year on any plan.