Dawn Marriott is a partner at HG, a private equity firm, where she Chairs two portfolio companies. A serial PE Chair, Dawn is also a board member at Geomatikk and Aztecs, where she was formerly CEO. Tune in to Dawn’s conversation with Nurole CEO Oliver Cummings to hear her answers to: What’s the role of a Scale-Up Board? (2:21) As a Chair, do you have a particular methodology to draw value out of board members? (4:23) Practically, how do you assess the contributions of each board member? (6:20) How do you think about new board members versus external consultants when you need specific functional expertise? (9:38) What is the different value of independent and investor directors? (12:28) How do you think about chairing versus executive chairing? (19:16) Do you have a framework for thinking about where and how you amplify CEO performance to best effect? (21:53) How do you figure out where you can add most value to CEOs need? (24:49) How do you assess both prospective and incumbent CEOs? (26:39) Have you spotted any patterns in CEOs who don’t make the cut? (29:50) How do you think about board composition and archetypes? (34:15) Do you consider the balance of personality types on your boards? (37:19) And ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(39:21)  

Host: Oliver Cummings

Producer: Will Felton

Editor: Alex Fish

Music: Kate Mac

Audio: Nick Kolt

Email: [email protected]

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

Alex Denny is Committee Chair at the Association of Investment Companies and Trustee at the Nautical Archeology Society. He is a former Managing Director at Pantheon Ventures and Head of Investment Trusts at Fidelity International. Tune in to his conversation with Nurole CEO Oliver Cummings to hear his answers to: Can you give us an overview of the investment trust sector and its appeal for board members? (2:06) What are the hallmarks of the best and worst investment trust boards you’ve seen? (5:32) How many board members are brave enough to split with eponymous fund managers? (7:56) How can investment trust boards hold their managers to account? (11:09) What do you see the best investment trust boards doing around strategy? (19:08) How are the best boards addressing discounts? (26:41) How have you built your plural career in investment trusts? (30:25) How have your non-exec roles influenced your executive career? (33:56) And ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(37:05) 

 

Host: Oliver Cummings

Producer: Will Felton

Editor: Alex Fish

Music: Kate Mac

Audio: Nick Kolt

Email: [email protected]

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

Baroness Morrissey is former/Chair of Altum Group, Fidelis Insurance Group, Investment Industry Diversity Project, AJ Bell and The Investment Association. In this conversation with Nurole CEO, Oliver Cummings, she answers: Did you see the fee issues at St James’s Place coming? (1:42) How can board members challenge the status quo successfully? (5:52) How do you decide when to stand down and when to dig in? (12:00) What do you know now which you wish you’d known at the beginning of your non-exec career? (13:36) As a board member, how do you build honest and trusting relationships with colleagues? (15:28) What are your most effective board rituals as a Chair? (18:07) How do you formulate strategy with management? (25:19) How can Chairs be more inclusive? (29:25) What is the board’s role in supporting working parents? (31:04) And ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(39:54) 

Host: Oliver Cummings

Producer: Will Felton

Editor: Alex Fish

Music: Kate Mac

Audio: Nick Kolt

Email: [email protected]

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

Alex Edmans is Professor of Finance at London Business School, Member of the Sustainability Council of Novo Nordsik, and author of Many Contain Lies. In this conversation with Nurole CEO Oliver Cummings, Alex covers: Do diverse boards lead to better corporate culture and performance? (1:44) Where have diversity-performance studies gone wrong? (3:37) Does inclusion have an impact on performance? (6:05) Why don’t you think anyone has managed to prove the positive impact of diversity on company performance? (7:01) Does good corporate governance improve performance? (10:11) Do boards work? (12:01) Do financial incentives work? (13:36) Which truths do boards need to be more aware of? (15:43) What is the relevance of confirmation bias and binary thinking to decision-making? (17:37) Why did you focus on these two biases, over any others? (20:00) Can you talk through the “ladder of misinference”? (23:39) Have you ever been challenged that experience trumps evidence? (28:29) What role do you see for experience and intuition on boards? (29:55) What are the most important insights board members can take from May Contain Lies? (31:01) What have you learned about challenging in the boardroom? (34:22) What’s been your emotional experience of challenge? (37:22) And⚡The Lightning Round (39:02) ⚡ 

Host: Oliver Cummings

Producer: Will Felton

Editor: Alex Fish

Music: Kate Mac

Audio: Nick Kolt

Email: [email protected]

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

Sir Richard Dearlove KCMG OBE is a former Mi6 Chief, Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, Advisory Board member at American International Group, and Chair at Ascot Underwriting, to name a few. In this conversation with Nurole CEO Oliver Cummings, Sir Richard covers: How do you make sure you are receiving accurate information from execs? (1:41) What lessons did you learn from the implosion of AIG? (4:16) What are the most valuable lessons you can offer someone on a government board, based on your experience working with politicians? (7:40) How can board members manage the court of public opinion? (11:30) How can we make more room for risk-taking and mistakes? (13:17) How have your best board members offered you support? (15:58) What have you learned about getting your point across in the boardroom? (17:36) How do you balance expertise with common sense? (19:10) How do you assess risk, especially geopolitical? (24:36) What do boards need to be thinking about when it comes to China and Russia? (29:20) What lessons have you learned about crisis management? (33:40) And ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡ (35:46) 

Host: Oliver Cummings

Producer: Will Felton

Editor: Alex Fish

Music: Kate Mac

Audio: Nick Kolt

Email: [email protected]

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

Stuart Roden is Chair / former Chair of Lansdowne Partners, Hetz Ventures, Lewis Advisors, Tresidor, the Design Museum and Unlocking Potential, NED at LSE and Trustee at the National Gallery and Centre for Social Justice. In this conversation with Nurole CEO, Oliver Cummings, Stuart covers:  When you were an investor, did the quality of the board come into your investment evaluation? (1:34) Do boards justify their costs? (4:48) Do you think the board is more about governance than value creation? (8:15) Where and why have you made mistakes, hiring the CEO? (12:38) How do you build the best relationship with your CEO? (19:39) Practically, as a Chair, how do you make sure you are discussing what you need to with your CEO? (24:01) How do investors add value as board members? (25:47) How do you think about capital allocation and return on resources in the boardroom? (28:53) And ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(33:04) 

Host: Oliver Cummings

Producer: Will Felton

Editor: Alex Fish

Music: Kate Mac

Audio: Nick Kolt

Email: [email protected]

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

Baroness Dambisa Moyo is a current board member of Chevron and Conde Nast, investment committee member of the Oxford University Endowment, and co-principal of Versaca Investments. Join her and Nurole CEO Oliver Cummings in a conversation which covers: Which of your boardroom experiences have been the most challenging? (1:44) How do the best boards deal with uncertainty and risk? (4:31): How do you think about the Risk Committee? (12:43) What do you know now which you wish you’d known when you first entered the boardroom? (14:32) How aligned are board members on the role of the board? (16:28) What have you learnt about adding value across strategy, CEO succession and culture, which might not be intuitive to an experienced executive? (20:02) How can people from non-conventional backgrounds best position themselves for board roles? (22:06) Should boards have strategy and audit sub-committees? (24:57) What is your dual-tracked approach to strategy? (29:35) You once had four CEOs in six years - what did you learn? (34:13)  What is the remit of ethics committees? (36:48) And ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡ (40:43)

Host: Oliver Cummings

Producer: Will Felton

Editor: Alex Fish

Music: Kate Mac

Audio: Nick Kolt

Email: [email protected]

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

Roger Martin, ranked the world's #1 management thinker, considers the following in the second part of his conversation with Nurole CEO Oliver Cummings: What is the board’s role in developing strategy? (2:13) What is the board’s role in communicating strategy across an organisation? (7:37) Do you think every organisation has the potential to build a winning strategy, or are some lost causes?  (11:20) How can boards hire the best people? (21:49) and ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(23:01) 

Host: Oliver Cummings

Producer: Will Felton

Editor: Alex Fish

Music: Kate Mac

Audio: Nick Kolt

Email: [email protected]

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

Roger Martin, ranked the world's #1 management thinker, has advised the boards of Procter & Gamble, Lego, Ford, BHP, Verizon and more. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: Do you see value in boards? (2:06) Where do you see value in NFP and private, investor-backed boards? (5:13) Can boards perform their monitoring function effectively? (10:05) Why do you think boards struggle to perform their stewardship role? (11:26) How do the best boards think about strategy? (17:33) How can boards determine whether their strategy will win? (18:53) Are there a finite number of ways organisations can win? (23:17), and what is the board’s role in developing strategy? (26:02) 

 

Host: Oliver Cummings

Producer: Will Felton

Editor: Alex Fish

Music: Kate Mac

Audio: Nick Kolt

Email: [email protected]

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

In recent years, Cathy has built a broad plural career at listed companies, with current NED positions at Lloyds Banking Group plc, Rentokil plc and Spectris plc. Tune in to her conversation with Nurole CEO Oliver Cummings to hear her thoughts on: How did you get your first NED position? (1:50) How did you turn that first position into a plural career? (7:55) To what extent has your performance in current positions created more non-exec opportunities in the future? (11:28) What have been the most challenging moments in building your non-exec career? (14:55) Where do you go for support as a board member? (19:18) Did you consciously develop a board expertise spike in remuneration? (21:30) What are the different archetypes people can lean into to develop their board careers? (24:51) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(28:55) and (Audience question) How do you pitch yourself as a first-timer versus someone who has a portfolio of non-executive roles? (32:52) 

Host: Oliver Cummings

Producer: Will Felton

Editor: Alex Fish

Music: Kate Mac

Audio: Nick Kolt

Email: [email protected]

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