The Boardroom Path

How should boards govern sport when it is now both a cultural institution and a global asset class? In this episode of The Boardroom Path, host Ralph Grayson speaks with Tony Simpson, Partner and Sports Industry Lead at Oliver Wyman, about why governance in elite sport has not always kept pace with the money, complexity and scrutiny now flowing through the sector. Tony explains why investors incre...

What does it actually take to move from the executive suite into the boardroom, and why do so many capable leaders misjudge the leap? In this episode of The Boardroom Path, host Ralph Grayson speaks with Catherine May, an experienced chair, non-executive director and certified executive coach with more than 25 years at executive committee level in FTSE 30 businesses including RELX, Centrica and SA...

What separates a board that merely complies from one that is genuinely fit for purpose? In this episode of The Boardroom Path, host Ralph Grayson speaks with Sam Allen, founder of Sam Allen Associates and an accredited board performance practitioner, about why external board effectiveness reviews are a strategic advantage rather than a regulatory chore. Sam explains how a rigorous review measures...

Why do boards full of brilliant, experienced people still make catastrophic decisions? In this episode of The Boardroom Path, host Ralph Grayson sits down at London Business School with Professor Randall Peterson, Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Academic Director of the School's Leadership Institute, to argue that board failure is rarely about intelligence and almost always about behavio...

What does the market see about your board that you cannot see from the inside? In this episode of The Boardroom Path, host Ralph Grayson speaks with Steven Fine, Chief Executive of Peel Hunt and co-founder of the Non-Executive Director Awards, about how boards are really judged: not by internal evaluations, but by investors, analysts and markets in real time. They explore why courage now defines g...

How should boards lead when judgement, not information, has become the scarcest resource in the room? In this episode of The Boardroom Path, host Ralph Grayson speaks with Helle Bank Jorgensen, Global Managing Director for Board Development at Board Intelligence and founder of Competent Boards, about what board leadership looks like now. They move from a world of separate risks to one of interconn...

What does good governance actually look like when the rules keep changing and the pressure keeps rising?  In this episode of The Boardroom Path, host Ralph Grayson speaks with Maureen Beresford, Director of Corporate Governance and Stewardship at the Financial Reporting Council, about why governance is fundamentally about judgement, not tick boxes, and why the best boards are those brave enough to...

How should boards be thinking about risk, capital and growth when the UK economy is structurally constrained and the geopolitical landscape is shifting beneath their feet? In this episode of The Boardroom Path, host Ralph Grayson speaks with Simon French, Chief Economist and Head of Research at Panmure Liberum, about why macroeconomic awareness is no longer optional for board directors. They explo...

How should boards lead when the world refuses to stand still? In this episode of The Boardroom Path, host Ralph Grayson speaks with Will Geddes, Managing Director of ICP Group and one of the UK's leading authorities on security, crisis management and geopolitical risk. They explore why boards now operate inside a state of permacrisis, why traditional crisis manuals rarely leave the shelf, and how...

What happens when the world your board was built to govern no longer exists? In this episode of The Boardroom Path, host Ralph Grayson speaks with Nik Gowing, founder of Think Unthink, former BBC World News presenter and co-author of Thinking the Unthinkable, about why boards are structurally unprepared for the scale and speed of disruption now unfolding. From the fall of the Berlin Wall to the 20...

What do investors actually look for when they sit down with a board? And has stewardship lost its way in a sea of tick boxes and league tables? In this episode of The Boardroom Path, host Ralph Grayson speaks with Kimberley Lewis, Head of Active Ownership at Schroders, one of the world's largest global asset managers. Kimberley leads Schroders' global stewardship strategy and works directly with c...

How do you tell whether a board is genuinely effective, rather than simply compliant and well-presented? In this episode of The Boardroom Path, host Ralph Grayson speaks with James Beasley, Head of Board Advisory (EMEA) at Nasdaq Governance Solutions, about what differentiates high-performing boards and directors from the rest. They unpack why governance must be pragmatic and strategy-led, why ski...

How do you close the gap between the leader you intend to be and the impact you actually have in the boardroom?  In this episode of The Boardroom Path, host Ralph Grayson speaks with business psychologist and executive coach Harriet Heneghan about what really drives boardroom behaviour, why feedback often fails to create change, and how coaching can help board members, chairs, and senior teams per...

Why has founder CEO succession become one of the most stressful and consequential decisions a board can make? In this episode of The Boardroom Path, host Ralph Grayson speaks with Evgeny Shadchnev, founder of Makers, author of Startup CEO Succession and coach to founder CEOs, about how to navigate leadership transitions when the stakes feel deeply personal and financially critical. Drawing on his...

What does a high‑value board really look like in a world of scandals, regulation fatigue, and infinite agendas?  In this episode of The Boardroom Path, host Ralph Grayson speaks with Board Intelligence’s Megan Pantelides to unpack the mindset, skills, and information boards need to move from box‑ticking to real strategic impact. They explore why critical thinking, curiosity and humility separate e...

How should boards really think about cyber and AI when every organisation feels under siege?  In this episode of The Boardroom Path, host Ralph Grayson speaks with Danny Lopez, CEO of Glasswall and experienced NED, about why cybersecurity is now the defining risk of our time – and why boards must stop treating it as a narrow IT issue. They explore how to reframe cyber as core to trust, reputation...

What does it really take to thrive in the boardroom rather than simply occupy a seat at the table? In this episode of The Boardroom Path, host Ralph Grayson speaks with Rob Senior, former worldwide CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi and now a plural non-executive, investor and advisor. Drawing on a career that spans founding and selling Fallon, leading global creative campaigns, and serving on PLC, priv...

Is your board truly equipped for effective governance, or are you just checking a box? In this insightful episode, host Ralph Grayson speaks with Erika Eliasson-Norris, Founder & CEO of Beyond Governance and author of The Secret Diary of a Company Secretary , to lift the lid on the guarded realities of boardroom life. Erika, who also serves as the Governance Assessor to the Post Office Horizon...

Is the UK public market truly a dinosaur, or is it on the cusp of a major renewal? In this essential episode for aspiring and newly appointed Non-Executive Directors, host Ralph Grayson is joined by Charles Hall, Head of Research at Peel Hunt. Charles, a leading voice in the market reform debate, delivers a candid and incisive analysis of the forces shaping UK capital markets, critiquing the "eros...

Is the UK truly "rubbish" at scaling up its most promising companies? Host Ralph Grayson welcomes financial markets trailblazer Alasdair Haynes, founder and now President of Aquis Exchange, for an honest discussion on building and scaling a disruptive business. Alasdair shares his 48-year journey, from City trading floors to successfully exiting Aquis to SIX Group, and provides a firsthand account...

Do you struggle to articulate your value in the boardroom, or feel trapped in the 'executive doer' mindset? Host Ralph Grayson is joined by Fiona Hathorn, CEO of WB Directors (now part of Nurole) and an expert in Governance and Talent Management, to dissect the challenges and strategies for building a thriving Non-Executive Director (NED) career. Fiona shares her personal journey and the mission b...

Is the UK market finally ready for an IPO resurgence, and what must growth company boards do to prepare?  Host Ralph Grayson welcomes James Ashton, Chief Executive of the Quoted Companies Alliance (QCA), a leading advocacy group for small and mid-sized quoted companies in the UK. James draws on his background in financial journalism and as a FTSE 250 Non-Executive Director to discuss the critical...

How can board directors move beyond being overwhelmed by thousands of pages of materials and start genuinely driving performance?  This episode features Raffaela Rein, a seasoned tech entrepreneur and multi-board director, who argues that the current state of governance is unsustainable. She draws on her journey from BlackRock and launching companies for Rocket Internet to her roles on boards, inc...

Are you struggling to bridge the gap between an executive role and securing your first Non-Executive Director position? In this episode, host Ralph Grayson welcomes Susanne Chishti, Founder and Chair of FINTECH Circle and a seasoned board member on both private and FTSE 250 boards, to explore how high-calibre professionals can leverage their expertise for the benefit of early-stage companies. Susa...

Are boards truly prepared for today's hyper-volatile geopolitical landscape?  In this episode of The Boardroom Path, host Ralph Grayson speaks with Charles Myers, Chairman and Founder of Signum Global Advisors, a distinguished geopolitical strategist. They delve into the complexities of a Trump 2.0 presidency, the fragmentation of global alliances, and the need for boards to treat geopolitical ris...