What are the key ingredients of high-performing boards? As High Mistress of St Paul’s, Clarissa Farr worked with her board of governors over a period of marked success. Now a trustee, fellow and board consultant - at the Royal Ballet School, Winchester College and British Museum amongst others - Clarissa shares her key characteristics of high-performing boards. Tune in to her conversation with Nurole CEO Oliver Cummings to discover: what value did the board add for her as High Mistress at St Paul’s (1:43); what were the key characteristics that made the board so effective (5:13); how did she balance high-performance with wellbeing (7:58); do enough boards think about how this balance is struck in their organisation (12:08); where does she think the boards she's worked with could have done better (15:08); does ageism work against older board members as well as younger ones (17:33); how can smaller boards access fresh perspectives without compromising on experience (18:38); what’s the best way to do reverse mentoring (20:11); what tactics can Chairs use to get the most out of board members (23:03); what are the different ways board members and consultants can add value (27:18); where does the Chair-CEO relationship most commonly run into problems (31:50), and the lightning round (36:38).

Host: Oliver Cummings

Producer: Will Felton

Editor: Alex Fish

Music: Kate Mac

Audio: Nick Kolt

Email: podcast@nurole.com

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

43. Clarissa Farr, former St Paul's Girl's High Mistress - High-performance: the key characteristics of highly successful boards