Enter the Boardroom with Nurole 76. Paul Pester - Hard & soft impact: economics, culture and detail in the boardroom
Jul 3, 2024
Paul Pester, a seasoned banking executive and former CEO of Virgin Money and TSB, dives into fascinating insights on board dynamics. He shares how the Virgin Money board's rotating chair structure added value, and discusses lessons learned during the 2008 banking crisis with Santander. Pester emphasizes the importance of non-executives grasping business operations and proactive risk management. He advocates for boards to shape company culture through strategic alignment and offers innovative ways to quantify brand impact. A treasure trove of wisdom for aspiring board members!
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Rotating Chairs Brought Complementary Tension
- Paul Pester described Virgin Money's rotating chair with Richard Branson and Sir Malcolm Bates giving complementary perspectives.
- The contrast helped him but lacked outside-board alignment between the two chairs.
Get Close To Operations
- Do get close to the business operations as a non-exec by visiting sites and talking to customers.
- Use that proximity to identify strengths, weaknesses and model risks rather than doing the executive's job.
Two Ways A Bank Can Die
- A bank dies either slowly via bad lending or quickly via a liquidity run from deposit outflows.
- Boards must segment deposits and test assumptions about customer behaviour under stress to spot what will kill the bank first.
