Our most provocative episode (title) ever.

The week Paul - in just a few minutes - discusses the power of systems, language and stakeholders. How do these things play out in and around boardrooms?

Paul investigates some different ways of looking at effective governance structures that move us away from the traditional "top floor down" thinking of where boards belong.

Are directors the problem or is it something else? 

Some answers await...

This week's short snippet from Paul focusses on a bit of research by those smart people at Havard and Penn universities called “The Liking Gap In Groups”.

Apparently, we can routinely underestimate how likeable we seem to others, but this gap shrinks as we get to know one another. 

What does this have to do with governance, the boardroom and the role of the director?

IT'S ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS!!!

We are back...again!

Yes, the Future Directors Podcast is crazily inconsistent but you can't beat the content right? 

For the next little while, FDI Founder Paul Smith will be sharing his thoughts in bite-size monologues of under 5 minutes each. Governance geekdom at its finest.

This episode is all that little thing bandwagon called AI - Artificial Intelligence. Paul is interested in ChatGPT’s (and more broadly, AI’s) implications for boards, strategy, risk and their role as organisational stewards. What things should it be making board directors think and talk about? What risks and opportunities does it pose for your organisation?

Some answers await your ears...

It’s part two of last ep’s convo with FDI’s Paul Smith and tech & governance experts, Pia Turcinov and Alan Jones. This time they’re thinking about how those ‘dangerous and disruptive tech folk’ can reframe what they offer, in order to get a seat at the boardroom table in the first place. 

The conversation spans:

• Why techy directors are seen as risky.

• Creating bridges in to the boardroom that can then grow more organically - from digital innovation subcommittees, to just one expert at the table.

• Getting the supply by reframing technologists as innovators. Speaking the language the board is speaking right now.

• Not just bringing in the technology of innovation, but also the processes of innovation – including, comfort with failure.

Pia Turcinov is a Non-Executive Director and Innovation Strategist, and founder of Venture X and Fund WA.

Alan John is a startup founder mentor and tech investor, who is a partner with M8 Ventures, and the chair of Catalysr, an entrepreneurship program focused on marginalised migrants and refugees.

You could be a banana farm. An insurer. A school network. It doesn’t matter. Digital tech is now so integral to day-to-day life that, whatever business you’re in, you’re now a technology business. So why don’t more boards have tech at the top of their minds? Why are Australia’s ASX toppers the top tech laggers? That forms the topic of conversation today between board directors Pia Turcinov and Alan Jones and FDI’s Paul Smith.

The conversation spans:

• Why techy directors are seen as risky.

• Creating bridges in to the boardroom that can then grow more organically - from digital innovation subcommittees, to just one expert at the table.

• Getting the supply by reframing technologists as innovators. Speaking the language the board is speaking right now.

• Not just bringing in the technology of innovation, but also the processes of innovation – including, comfort with failure.

Pia Turcinov is a Non-Executive Director and Innovation Strategist, and founder of Venture X and Fund WA.

Alan John is a startup founder mentor and tech investor, who is a partner with M8 Ventures, and the chair of Catalysr, an entrepreneurship program focused on marginalised migrants and refugees.

In the last of our series we Matt we talk about one of the most important people in the boardroom...the Chair.

You’ve probably heard the analogy about the board chair being like an orchestra conductor. Matt Fullbrook of Fullbrook Board Effective thinks that’s bunkum. He has a different analogy - and it’s to do with dinner parties. FDI’s Paul riffs with Matt on making board leadership better.

 We workshop:

• Is leadership evolving?
• The conventional understanding of a board chair
• Introducing a new analogy - board chairs as great dinner hosts
• The role of the board in co-creating the right atmos for decision-making
• How to chair better in a virtual environment
• Should we have 2 chairs? 1 for the mechanical stuff, another for the generative stuff?
• The power of practice and play in breaking board norms

Connect with Matt FullbrookLinkedinTwitter Board Effectiveness

Connect with Future Directors InstituteFuture Directors Insititute Paul Smith on LinkedIn Follow Future Directors on LinkedIn

Leah Fricke has a term for the meat she brings to her non-executive director roles: “Deliberate Practice”. It’s about consciously and continually reflecting on what your board will need in 3 years, and actively becoming it – through extracurricular learning and self-development. It’s what made Leah stand out to FDI judges to become 2022's first ever Future Director Of The Year. And it’s what might make you stand out in the boardroom too (and this year’s Awards). 

Paul and Leah discuss:

• Leah’s traditional, yet untraditional, journey to the boardroom
• How limited time/money can actually focus a board’s attention
• A cut-throat quality that keeps Leah sharp – upskill or step aside
• Expounding on “Deliberate Practice”: The power of a growth mindset and continual questioning of oneself
• And lastly, Leah’s judging this year’s Future Director/Board Of The Year Awards. What’s she looking for?

Here's another short episode with Paul sharing his wisdom to help you in your board career. This week, it's all about your why. As Simon Sinek's book suggests "Start with Why" but for us at Future Directors, there are far more reasons beyond the start point that makes your why such a critical (non-negotiable) element of your journey. Enjoy!

Does the phrase ‘corporate governance’ apply to non-profits, schools, community groups etc?

Yes, but for many, it doesn't and Paul (solo this time) is here to explain why governance has a positioning problem.

“How does this impact us?” is a question you’ll often hear in boardrooms. But less so, “Who is the us?” and “Isn’t the us also the environment and the community?” or “Should we think about what we can have a positive impact on, versus just thinking about what we’ll be negatively impacted by?”. Powerful questions, all discussed by FDI’s Paul and governance guru Matt Fullbrook of Fullbrook Board Effectiveness, in this podcast about how ‘left-of-field’ issues might not be that ‘left’ after all.

We spitball:

• Reasons to think outside your board’s direct impact zone
• Why it’s impossible to benefit everyone, but important to consider everyone
• Stakeholder representation in the boardroom and conflicts of interest in being a representative for other voices on the board
• How to bake stakeholder thinking into your board’s practices

Connect with Matt FullbrookLinkedinTwitter Board Effectiveness

Connect with Future Directors InstituteFuture Directors Insititute Paul Smith on LinkedIn Follow Future Directors on LinkedIn