One Minute Governance

There are lots of reasons why successful and influential people might feel reluctant to go back and learn the basics of corporate governance.  That's OK, although I wonder if we might be able to find a way to make it more comfortable...

I rely on other, smarter people for inspiration.  To that end, I wanted to do an episode acknowledging some organizations out there that push my brain in new directions when it comes to corporate governance and leadership.  It's not an exhaustive list, nor is it intended to be a "best of" - it's just some folks who have been on my mind of late.  Please check them out! www.the51.com https://www.bla...

"Where were the directors?" was basically the question that launched the corporate governance "industry" in Canada.  Turns out it's still an important question...

Corporate governance basically never changes, and every time any little thing happens it seems like a huge deal.  Why is that?

It can be hard to engage entrepreneurs in conversations about governance.  They have a lot of other important stuff on their minds.  Here are a few tips.

I wish I knew a lot more about the governance of subsidiaries...

Board skills matrices have been around forever, but there's a new (to me) feature that I think would make them even more useful.

Lots of effective directors compare great board chairs to orchestra conductors.  I'm not so sure the analogy is so apt...

The Carver Policy Governance (R) model is pretty divisive.  Here's my take...

I've spent a lot of time leaning into my definition of governance as the way decisions are made in an organization.  Maybe we should finally spend some time talking about what a decision is...

As weird as it may sound, it's true!  Individual directors have no authority.

We have a talent problem in governance.  Help me fix it!

Here are my suggestions of questions that will actually help you to build better governance if you're new to the space.

I think most corporate governance regulations aren't actually about corporate governance at all.  If regulators want governance to improve, they need a different approach.

There's a lot of drama in Canada right now around dual-class share structures.  Is it time for a change?

It surprises me that I've never talked about the impact that senior executives have on the effectiveness of their boards.  So here we go!

This episode approaches corporate culture from a different angle than episode 81.  How can a board zero in on its definition of and role in corporate culture?

It's hard enough to agree on what corporate culture means, let alone what the board's role should be in its oversight...

Misinformation will corrupt any decision process.  How important is it to manage the risk of misinformation in the boardroom?

Every board can improve, but should you hire a governance consultant to help?  What do governance consultants even do in the first place?  How do you know if you're getting good advice? 

Many boards spend lots of time and money on governance education, but don't do a great job at making sure the whole board benefits when a director attends a course or conference.  We can do better than that...

Governance education is everywhere.  Sometimes it's excellent, and sometimes it's awful.  A lot of the time is exorbitantly expensive.  Do *you* need it?

Jamahl Evans is back!  Many organizations miss the mark with their mission statements.  Without a clear and action-focused mission, how can you make effective decisions? More about Jamahl: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamahl-k-evans-sr-64638b124/  

Following Frances Haugen's incredible and awful revelations about Facebook's internal research, imagine you were on the Facebook board.  What questions would you ask?  What future would you help to build for the organization?

I've talked about stakeholder capitalism before, but not everyone agrees that it's even possible, let alone whether or not it makes sense.