The Corporate Director Podcast

COVID-19 is very different from a traditional economics-based crisis or natural disaster. A great deal of uncertainty exists related to global response and how long the situation will last. “It’s more akin to a war zone than a normal crisis,” says Alejandro “Alex” Wolff. Wolff is a 34-year veteran of the US State Department, who now serves on the boards of Albemarle Corporation, PG&E Corporati...

Officially a pandemic, the impact of coronavirus is broad reaching and disruptive. For companies, your response not only impacts the bottom line, it also impacts lives. Podcast guest, Peter Deans, shares with Meghan Day, Diligent’s Director of Board Experience, his take on how the associated risks need to be effectively managed by boards and management. Also in this episode, Diligent Institute Hea...

Change is happening at lightning speed. In fact, NACD reported that nearly 7 in 10 directors believe their company won’t be able to extend its existing strategy over the next five years. Dr. Clayton Christensen tackled this issue with his 1997 book The Innovator’s Dilemma. And so has Claudia Fan Munce as a co-founder and former managing director of the IBM Venture Capital Group. Munce shares with...

nation’s workforce and customer base. Yet less than 3% of the board seats of Fortune 1000 companies are held by Latinos, according to Esther Aguilera, president & CEO of the Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA). LCDA is changing this picture for the better. The organization is identifying board candidates, coaching and positioning Latino professionals for board service, and increasing...

ESG is having its moment on the world stage: Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg addressed the 50th meeting of the World Economic Forum. This year’s updated “Davos Manifesto” focused on the broader social purpose of corporations – echoing a similar move by the Business Roundtable. And just before this convergence of global power players in the Swiss Alps, Blackrock CEO Larry Fink’s annual lett...

As business landscapes continue to shift, the definition of what makes a modern board is evolving. Hear from Eva Sage-Gavin, Senior Managing Director of Accenture’s Global Talent, and Larry Clinton, President of the Internet Security Alliance, on two issues that should be top of the agenda for any modern board in 2021.

From competing and volatile priorities to changing stakeholder demands, board oversight responsibilities have reached new heights of complexity—and this is particularly true in today’s era of cultural shifts, geopolitical tensions, changing regulations, and unrelenting technology disruption. Each year for over a decade, assurance, tax, and financial advisory firm BDO has surveyed directors of publ...

As the pace of change accelerates, shareholder expectations intensify, and diversity, community, and ESG issues rise as priorities, board composition must include individuals with unique but complementary skills and experience. Achieving this fine balance is the job of the nom/gov committee. How is this role evolving in a changing landscape? What can a nom/gov committee member or chair do to ensur...

The “Larry Fink letter” on corporate purpose. A Listeria-initiated court decision that’s raising the bar for risk management across industries. “Cousin Greg” from the HBO show Succession and a possible WeWork movie bringing corporate boards into pop culture. In the words of Schindlinger, “2019 was a governance year for the record books.” It’s time to look back—and look ahead. In this special 2019...

In this podcast episode, two technology professionals who are now professional independent directors share their unique perspectives on these issues. Nelson Chan provides insight from his role as board chair, and Merline Saintil shares her thoughts from her work as an operating executive and director with several technology companies. Their findings: Staying sharp and upping your game in a digital...

In this podcast episode, Cindy Moehring discusses how boards can create a transparent, accountable company culture. Later on, special guest Adam Berger elaborates on what public company boards can learn from the private equity approach to value creation and working with entrepreneurial CEOs.

On this episode, Dr. Anita Sands shares her thoughts on digital transformation—what’s going on and how directors can stay up to speed. With a masters in public policy and management and a Ph. D. in atomic and molecular physics, and as a non-U.S. member on several U.S. boards, Dr. Sands brings a unique perspective from the worlds of science, technology, and directorship. Dr. Sands is a member of th...

Innovation has long been thought of as crucial to an organization’s success. But, too often, there seems to be little innovation (and diversity) within the organization’s board. On this episode of The Corporate Director podcast, Margaret Whelan shares how boards can rethink value, innovation, growth, and diversity. Margaret is the CEO of Whelan Advisory, and also serves on the boards of the Housin...

On this episode, Leah Malone joins the show to discuss PwC’s Annual Corporate Directors Survey. The study surveys over 700 US board directors, making it one of the largest public directors surveys in the country. Three-fourths of the directors are from companies with at least $1 billion in revenue. Leah Malone is the Director at PwC’s Governance Insight Center, and author of the study.

In 2018, 17.5% of the world’s largest 2,500 companies experienced CEO turnover. Notably, that number is up 3% from the year before. Even more notably? The top reason for CEO forced turnovers was misconduct. Jennifer Chatman, Professor at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkely and Independent Director at Simpson Manufacturing Inc., has dedicated her research to demystifying corporate culture.

Interviewing a professional who truly excels in her work is always a positive experience. But we wouldn’t just say that Anastassia Lauterbach is a professional who excels. Really, she’s a champion who inspires. Anastassia is on the boards of EasyJet and Wirecard and on the Advisory Board for Diligent Institute. She’s also the author of The Artificial Imperative, and is CEO and founder of 1AU Ventu...

Nearly six years ago, Target experienced a major breach of its customer data. Since then, the conversations in boardrooms about cyber risk could not be more different than they used to be. Back then, people were saying, “Why should boards spend time talking about cyber risk?” Nobody says that now. Instead, the conversation is around, “How much time should the board spend talking about cyber risk?”...

ESG. Environment, social or sustainability, and governance. There are no clear rules and regulations about ESG--no single definition that everyone is supposed to be following. Not only thinking about ESG but also adopting principles that drive ESG in all aspects of business is especially timely and topical right now. We got to interview Clare Wardle, General Counsel and Company Secretary for Coca-...

One of the main problems plaguing modern governance is too much looking backward and not enough looking forward. Another one is quality of information. If boards have to make decisions based on data, it stands to reason that they should get the most accurate and relevant information possible. That’s what Dottie Schindlinger, co-author of Governance in the Digital Age, got to discuss with Susan For...

Corporate boards are under pressure to become more diverse - in age, gender, skill set and more. But younger executives already have full plates, and being a corporate director is becoming an increasingly tough job - one that might seem less attractive to younger candidates than in years past. Are corporate boards heading toward a labor crisis? Why is the director role becoming so challenging (and...

The average age of board directors around the world is 63.5 years old, and that number is climbing every year. Which begs the question: how do you digitize the modern boardroom when it appears that boards are getting older and older, and are often hesitant to embrace technology? Why should you bother digitizing your board room at all? Recently, we visited Singapore and had a live taping of an epis...

Communication and transparency go hand-in-hand. Some organizations are known for making all of their communications public all the time. Others have reinvented themselves so often, you hardly know which version you’re dealing with. When it comes to internal communication, clarity and transparency are key. We recently sat down with Pamela Coles, a longtime governance professional and currently comp...

Diversity is an increasingly center-stage topic, in legislation, pop culture, and nearly every work environment. And there’s no place the effects of diversity are more far-reaching than in corporate board rooms. On this episode, we sit down with Erin Lantz and Jonathan Nelson to discuss the facts on board diversity. Truly, there’s no one with more relevant perspectives to discuss these issues than...

Digital disruption has impacted nearly every industry. Retail, transportation, and even certain parts of healthcare have been upended, as upstarts have supplanted long-standing companies. Research shows that half of the S&P 500 companies will be replaced over the next 10 years. What does that mean? There’s no escaping digital disruption. The forecast is pretty clear: Disrupt, or be disrupted....

Insights are lifeblood for directors. With today’s increasing flow of rapid data and information, directors want more data and more research, and they need it faster. This week we show board members how to obtain those insights, which research to follow, and how to enable your board to leverage their individual strengths to ask the right questions. This episode is hosted by Dottie Schindlinger and...