Maria Molland is former CEO and Board Member of Thinx, the feminine hygiene company, acquired by Kimberly Clark. She is an Executive in Residence at Frazier Healthcare Partners. Tune in to hear Maria's thoughts on: Her first days as CEO (01:15) Lessons from her 90-day plan as a new CEO (05:37) Making the case for HR investment early on (10:54) Where the board misallocated investment when scaling (16:35) A framework for deciding where to invest (20:09) The trade-offs of taking capital from a strategic partner (23:08) The benefits of having someone with the CEO’s ear (28:54) What surprised Maria most on the path to exit (30:58)⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(34:18)

Host: Oliver Cummings

Producer: Will Felton

Editor: Penelope Coumau

Music: Kate Mac

Audio: Nick Kold

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Lubomila Jordanova is co-founder and CEO of Plan A, recently acquired by Diginex, Co-Founder of Greentech Alliance and Advisory Board Member at the European Investment Bank and Chloé. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: The best and worst moments that shaped Lubomila’s boardroom approach (03:00) How and when to create a board with complex stakeholders (04:44) How external board positions have helped Lubomila navigate her own board (11:27 The biggest challenges Lubomila has faced with her board (13:27) How geopolitics impacts board discussions (15:24) How boards can create a safe space for founders to raise personal issues in the boardroom (18:53) Deep dive: one board discussion that changed the direction of the business (25:12) How boards should evaluate a partnership strategy (27:04) The key relationships founders and CEOs need to build (30:43) The biggest mistake boards make on sustainability (40:23) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(42:39)

Host: Oliver Cummings

Producer: Will Felton

Editor: Penelope Coumau

Music: Kate Mac

Audio: Nick Kold

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Sir Ian Cheshire is Chair of Land Securities Group and Spire Healthcare Group. Formerly, he was Group Chief Executive of Kingfisher plc and Chair of Channel 4, Barclays Bank UK and Debenhams. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: Top moments where Sir Ian’s seen boards add most value (01:57) How boards can prepare for crises (04:50) Two key ways boards should be engaging with AI (06:03) How Sir Ian’s boards are approaching geopolitical changes (11:34) How they’re assessing inflation risk (14:06) How they’re preparing for a liquidity crisis (17:52) Sir Ian’s resignation as Debenham’s chair (19:34) When and how board members should push back on legal advice (24:25) How board members can deal with activist shareholders (27:21) The role of commercial people on public sector boards (29:45) Mistakes Sir Ian’s made transitioning to public sector boards (33:14) The key lesson every exec has to learn as they transition to non-exec (34:46) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(38:10)

Host: Oliver Cummings

Producer: Will Felton

Editor: Penelope Coumau

Music: Kate Mac

Audio: Nick Kold

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Sir Ian Cheshire is Chair of Land Securities Group and Spire Healthcare Group. Formerly, he was Group Chief Executive of Kingfisher plc and Chair of Channel 4, Barclays Bank UK and Debenhams. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: The three most important interventions boards made to Sir Ian as an exec  (01:28) The main difference between reporting to and sitting on a board (06:04) How CEOs and execs build better relationships with their boards (08:48) How they can make sure boards focus where they can add most value (12:57) How and why boards should use cooling off periods when making decisions (15:39) How NEDs are able to pick up on things execs miss (17:18) The right and wrong way for NEDs to be persistent (19:59) Where CEOs can rely on Chairs to help them with divestments (23:18) Sir Ian’s hardest board meeting as a CEO - firing senior execs (26:32) How CEOs should present redundancy decisions to the board (28:25) The moments where Ian and the board have got things badly wrong (32:07) Heuristics to understand retail boards (33:06) Why organisations continually lose focus on the customer (36:57)

Host: Oliver Cummings

Producer: Will Felton

Editor: Penelope Coumau

Music: Kate Mac

Audio: Nick Kold

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Professor Malcolm Press CBE is Vice-Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University and President of Universities UK. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: The skills university boards need to add value (00:58) How boards can help timetable risk (04:09) What university boards can teach about managing multiple stakeholders (05:59) The three main issues university boards are facing today (10:23) Unlocking the financial conundrum universities face (14:22) When boards should collaborate rather than compete (18:13) The challenges and benefits of international expansion (22:47) Market research: a cautionary tale (24:34) How to make tech investment decisions as a non-expert (27:14) How to challenge a forceful CEO constructively (29:42) Why behaviour matters as much as skills when appointing a Chair (33:35) How to assess behaviour in candidates (34:46) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(35:37)

Host: Oliver Cummings

Producer: Will Felton

Editor: Penelope Coumau

Music: Kate Mac

Audio: Nick Kold

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

David Sproul is Chair of Starling Bank and Chair of Pennon Group. Formerly, he was Deputy Global CEO of Deloitte UK. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: Deloitte UK expansion: the toughest conversations David had with his board (00:46) How to reframe board risk discussions positively (03:28) Balancing logos and pathos when influencing (06:13) Should CEOs come to the board focused on upside or downside? (08:58) How the board helped improve David’s thinking about Deloitte’s expansion (12:02) How they helped give credibility and bandwidth to David’s strategy (15:41) The specific value independent directors gave David (18:01) Starling Bank: key lessons in chairing a high-growth business (22:48) How boards can help reconcile failing fast with regulatory scrutiny (25:59) Lessons from Starling Bank’s FCA fine (27:23) How to do due diligence on a company before accepting a board position (33:39) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(41:05)

Host: Oliver Cummings

Producer: Will Felton

Editor: Penelope Coumau

Music: Kate Mac

Audio: Nick Kold

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Amanda Mackenzie OBE is NED at British Land and at Lloyds Banking Group, where she chairs the Responsible Business Committee. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: Why Amanda first started non-exec roles (1:10) How she repositioned herself as a non-exec candidate (1:44) Crafting a compelling board CV (3:13) Why Amanda started with pro bono rather than paid roles (5:44) How she landed her first paid role (8:48) Networking hacks to build a plural career (9:56) How to identify and position yourself for the right board roles (12:23) How to demonstrate vertical and horizontal value in applications (19:28) How to gain influence as a new board member (27:44) Positioning ESG in board discussions (30:03) What happens when purpose collides with commercial pressure? (32:40) Should every board have a responsible business committee? (34:19) How boards create psychological safety (36:48) Balancing structure and free-thinking time in board agendas (38:31) The key ethical questions, challenges and risks of AI (43:05) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(46:53) 

Host: Oliver Cummings

Producer: Will Felton

Editor: Penelope Coumau

Music: Kate Mac

Audio: Nick Kold

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Sir James Wates CBE is Chair of the Rugby Football Union and Vestey Holdings Ltd. Formerly, he was Chair of Wates Group. Tune in to hear his thoughts: Key board-level decisions that helped grow Wates from 950m to 2bn revenues (02:20) How the board weighed the risks and benefits of increasing average transaction value (05:08) Key decisions the board used to assess risk (08:00) How the board decided when to quit and when to stick (10:03) CEO appointments: what’s worked and what hasn’t (14:02) Board succession planning: how to pick the right chair (18:11) How to handle redundancies as a CEO or Chair (22:45) The single governance practice Sir James would insist every family business adopt (26:12) Key lessons transitioning from a family to a fully independent chair (27:25) Independence versus centralisation in a group structure (30:21) Chairing the RFU: why Sir James took on the role and what it entails (37:54) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡ (41:34)

Host: Oliver Cummings

Producer: Will Felton

Editor: Penelope Coumau

Music: Kate Mac

Audio: Nick Kold

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Phil Walker CBE is Chair of Council at the University of Roehampton and member of the England & Wales Cricket Board. Formerly, he was COO at Capgemini. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: Phil’s journey into the boardroom (02:02) How university governance differs from corporate (03:15) Key stakeholders for higher education boards (04:23) Heuristics Phil uses to understand university boards (05:30) Key data points every education board should look at (07:45) Three defining moments that most shape how Phil operates as a board member (11:25) Lessons in crisis management from Covid (15:08) The role of summation in effective chairing (16:56) Why Phil thinks boards need to become less formal and more human (21:19) The board’s role in ethical decisions - why Roehampton banned fossil fuel companies from career fairs (26:04) How Phil’s thinking about AI (32:06) Advice for university board candidates (34:58)  How Phil thinks about board composition (36:40)⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(38:10)

Host: Oliver Cummings

Producer: Will Felton

Editor: Penelope Coumau

Music: Kate Mac

Audio: Nick Kold

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Rupert Soames OBE is Chair of the CBI and Smith & Nephew plc and  former CEO of Serco Group plc and Aggreko plc. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: Key moments from Rupert’s time as CEO that shape how he Chairs (1:33) Lessons from Aggreko’s acquisition of GE’s energy rental business (3:42) Was there anything a board could have done to mitigate Rupert’s disagreement with the Misys CEO when he was a divisional manager? (5:33) When chairs added most value to Rupert as CEO (9:35) How Philip Rogerson, Aggreko Chair, said “no” without demotivating Rupert (11:37) How Rupert tries to help CEOs iterate and communicate strategy as a board member (17:09) The macro-trends Rupert’s focused on as a Chair (21:22) How Rupert thinks about CEO compensation in a global market (26:17)⚡The Lightning Round⚡ (30:07) Audience Q&A (36:54) The value of execs taking non-exec positions alongside their main role (37:07) Rupert’s thoughts on the value of board evaluations (38:18) Where boards need to professionalise further (40:02)

Host: Oliver Cummings

Producer: Will Felton

Editor: Penelope Coumau

Music: Kate Mac

Audio: Nick Kold

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom