The Better Boards Podcast Series

Send us a textGeopolitical dynamics have evolved recently and will continue to grow more complex, with even more impact in the foreseeable future.  Companies operating in more than one jurisdiction are particularly vulnerable to geopolitical risks, although these can also present opportunities.  Can boards afford to steer clear, or is the boardroom the best place to build resilience and pave the way to opportunity?In this podcast, Dr Sabine Dembkowski Founder and Managing Partner of Better Boards discuss geopolitical challenges with Nassib Abou-Kahlil, named one of the 20 top corporate legal officers by the Financial Times in June 2021.  Nassib held senior legal roles at Yahoo!, GE Oil & Gas, Etisalat and TMF Netherlands and most recently as Chief Legal Officer at Nokia. “Keep an open mind; the world is extremely diverse”Nassib opens by observing that the complexity around Geopolitics is enormous but not insurmountable. In his mind, it is vital to keep an open mind. He relates his experiences with new challenges and working in numerous jurisdictions, involving not just managing complex laws, but also accommodating values and reconciling contradictions, whether cultural, legal or between values in the multi-jurisdictional environment.  This is a delicate exercise in understanding, foreseeing, mitigating and managing.  “There is no one size fits all”Nassib explains that he believes there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach, so whatever approach is taken needs to be well adapted to the specific business and relevant circumstances.  This must be taken into account when assessing the impact of a particular development and is achieved through utilising regulators and other geopolitical experts and analysts. Nassib describes how insights alone neither help solve nor achieve anything, so mitigation is necessary. “Yes, this is a board-level discussion… …not in every detail, but at a strategic level”In Nassib’s view, it is essential for geopolitical issues to be a board-level conversation, and the board is potentially one of the bodies best placed for future-proofing organisations.  He explains that one of the most important tasks of the board in this context is weighing in on the strategy of a company, and assessing and deciding how a company addresses its geopolitical risks.  “Lack of diversity and diverse perspectives, and challenges in perspective is potentially one of the greatest red flags”Nassib holds the view that the biggest threat to boards and future-proofing is the potential lack of diversity on the board. In his experience, the power of diverse perspectives invariably leads to better decision-making and broader insights. “The biggest risk in diversity is defining diversity narrowly”Nassim relates how he has always thought of diversity in the broadest sense of the word, including cultural experience, racial diversity, social mobility, and other aspects of diversity.  Many companies are operating in an extremely diverse environment, yet their boards do not reflect this.  The three top takeaways from our conversation are:1.      Geopolitical dynamics are here to stay, so keep in mindRemember to subscribe and never miss an episode of the Better Boards Podcast Series. It’s available on Apple, Spotify, or Google. To find out how you can participate in the Better Boards Podcast Series or for more information on Better Boards’ solutions, please email us at info@better-boards.com.

Send us a textBeing digitally conversant in an era of digital transformation is quickly claiming Board attention.  Most companies are looking to use technology to improve business models, customer experience, operational efficiency, and more.  Boards must help them move forward at a sufficient pace, advocating for change, supporting, and sometimes nudging CEOs. In this podcast, Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Founder and Managing Partner of Better Boards discuss crucial issues to consider when creating a digitally savvy board with Peter Weill, Senior Research Scientist at the MIT Sloan School of Management and Chair Emeritus at MIT Center for Information Systems Research (CISR).“What is this secret sauce of being digitally savvy?”Peter explains that after studying the digital savviness of all the boards of U.S.-listed businesses, only 24% of those companies were digitally savvy. Yet those companies outperformed the rest, with 30% or higher revenue growth, return on assets, and market cap growth. After evaluating digital savviness, he and his colleagues at MIT CISR used machine learning to download and measure from the bios of all board members how digitally savvy they were.  Some large industry differences were noticed, such as 57% of boards in the information and media industry being digitally savvy, but only 24% in retail and 13% in financial services. “It takes three to digitally tango”It can be difficult for boards to find digitally savvy talent, Peter accepts but believes it is not impossible. He explains that recruiting one or even 2 such board members makes no measurable impact on performance, but companies with 3 digitally savvy directors had significantly increased performance.  He suggests this type of talent for boards might be found in former or sitting Chief Information Officers. He also recommends looking for members in industries that have transformed digital very quickly, such as media, telecoms, information businesses, and technology businesses. Another place to look is venture capital companies with digital company founders. “It's the 50% of time on strategy that we see makes a big difference”Peter believes that the most important thing a Chair can do is manage the agenda to spend the right amount of time on each role, with a good breakdown being 50% on strategy, 15% on oversight, and 35% on defense. “A digital strategy is a business strategy; it shouldn't be separated”Peter advocates a common language, where boards and management teams use words in the same way, selecting a handful of frameworks and using those consistently.  He also reiterates the need to hire new digitally savvy board members, and while board “refreshment” presents an opportunity, it is small relative to education.  In his experience, board members are extremely curious, and fast learners, and providing education around digital for them is important. He does accept that there is a correlation between age and digital savviness, but this does not make younger candidates necessarily better directors, as they have less experience in other areas.  He advocates diversity on the board and helping sitting directors become more digitally savvy as well as recruiting talRemember to subscribe and never miss an episode of the Better Boards Podcast Series. It’s available on Apple, Spotify, or Google. To find out how you can participate in the Better Boards Podcast Series or for more information on Better Boards’ solutions, please email us at info@better-boards.com.

Send us a textThere has been massive instability at a global level in the last two years, including geopolitical events, the pandemic, and inflation. However, we are also in the midst of a longer-term shift arising from political instability and deglobalisation. There is increasing investor focus on ESG, notably integrated reporting and disclosure requirements when it comes to climate change and stakeholder engagement. All these trends have major implications for board members, who need to be increasingly effective in overseeing risk and strategy. In this podcast, Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Founder and Managing Partner of Better Boards, discusses board future-proofing with Professor Didier Cossin, a Professor at IMD Switzerland and the Founding Director of the IMD Global Board Centre. A renowned global expert in governance, Professor Cossin works with boards and senior leaders worldwide to provide the latest thinking on best-in-class board effectiveness, dynamics, and design."You have to create a certain level of resilience while building up agility"The most important shifts affecting boards currently involve the world's current polarisation. Issues such as climate and ESG have become very polarising in many ways. Boards need to create a certain level of resilience while building up their agility in preparedness for the big shifts that are happening. "Responsibilities board members didn't have in the past and pressures from all sides of society from the regulators"As boards become more engaged than before, they need more granular understanding while keeping a high-level view and not micromanaging. Fiduciary and social responsibility have increased overall, while meetings have become more frequent, especially with digital capability. This requires board members to be increasingly present.  Boards should consider the big trends against all the organisation's activities and develop a view around which activities are exposed. They should increase the resilience of the organisation by integrating risk into strategic thinking. Boards are doing more work on human capital management, questioning whether organisations have the right culture and are sufficiently agile. Board members now have responsibilities and pressures (from all sides of society and regulators) that they did not have in the past. This raises a new issue coming under scrutiny - the effectiveness and quality of the dynamics within the board. "The world has become too difficult to navigate for boards to be compromised in any way" Many boards are asking themselves how to future-proof the board. Didier believes there are four main areas of board failures. Firstly, classical risks, where organisations are not resilient or prepared and thus not able to pull quickly out of risk situations.  Secondly, Didier describes the risk of board failure due to strategic blindspots, including the organisational context and the role the board takes in strategy work. Didier describes a third board risk in the quality of the relationship between executives and non-executives. He outlines the issues of how to foster deep trust while playing clear, distinctive roles, and believes that the board works almost as a team in supporting Remember to subscribe and never miss an episode of the Better Boards Podcast Series. It’s available on Apple, Spotify, or Google. To find out how you can participate in the Better Boards Podcast Series or for more information on Better Boards’ solutions, please email us at info@better-boards.com.

Send us a textRecent research revealed that 87% of board members believe market disruptions are becoming increasingly frequent, and 83% say they are increasingly impactful. At the same time, 79% believe risk management will be critical in enabling their organisations to protect and create value in the next five years. In this podcast, Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Founder and Managing Partner of Better Boards, discusses the risk environment with Zahra Cassim, CEO of Corporate Secretaries International Association (CSIA) and David Samy, Consulting Partner at EY Hong Kong."There's often not enough time on the agenda to deal with what might happen in the future"Zahra explains that there has previously been a general lack of board focus on risk oversight. Risk has tended to be driven and managed in functional silos, resulting in a lack of a structured approach to collecting and analysing risk information. This has been compounded by the underutilisation of technology and the right tools to analyse those risks. Finally, there can often be poor communication of risk from business units through senior management to theboard level."What the boards need to do is to prepare for a GREATER range of disruption and risk"David believes that risk fatigue may occur in a lot of organisations. The risks are very clear, but where the board is inexperienced and there is a lack of guidance or stewardship, the board can lose focus, and be unable to give long-term risks the attention they deserve. "Risk management programmes have not caught up and have remained a very high to be static"David cites a 2020 survey of boards' confidence in their organisations' ability to counter cybersecurity threats was at around 20%, but by 2021 this had dropped to 9%. He explains that this is an alarming decline and has a lot to do with how risk and risk management programmes are being run at present.   Digital modernisation has accelerated within most organisations in the recent past, but risk management programs have not really caught up. "Risks are managed in silence, and so very often not communicated to the board"Zahra explains that one of the critical tasks of the Corporate Secretary is to consolidate information, ensuring that the board is fully aware of all risks when making decisions. But they also need to ensure they integrate risks into their strategy. "There's always a solution for every situation"David offers some practical tips. First, start with driving awareness at the board level, by identifying a risk steward, a role the governance professional or Corporate Secretary can play. His second tip is unlocking the value of ongoing digital transformation by tapping into Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC) technology to create a single view of risk across all functions, leverage available data sources, and simplify the process, while enabling a common risk ecosystem and shared focus across the organisation.The three top takeaways from our conversation are:1.      As trusted strategic advisors to the board, governance professionals are uniquely positioned to help the board align strategy to the regulatory landscape, technological advances, aRemember to subscribe and never miss an episode of the Better Boards Podcast Series. It’s available on Apple, Spotify, or Google. To find out how you can participate in the Better Boards Podcast Series or for more information on Better Boards’ solutions, please email us at info@better-boards.com.

Send us a textOrganisations are facing major challenges. Many boardrooms have not yet caught up with the avalanche of recent and current profound changes, and both boards and members of nomination committees need to think carefully about talent and the C-Suit. It is easy to talk at a high level about moving from a shareholder economy to a stakeholder economy but what does this really mean for the selection and development of the C-Suite?In this podcast, Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Founder and Managing Partner of Better Boards, discusses the implications of major changes on the selection and development of top talent with Professor Joe Fuller. Joe is a Professor at Harvard Business School and co-founder of the Monitor Group, now known as Monitor Deloitte."We've moved away from just looking for executives with deep industry experience"Joe outlines how his recent research highlights that it is no longer safe to assume that leaders with traditional managerial pedigrees will succeed in the C-Suite. While executives with deep industry experience and high-order process management skills are always good candidates, new criteria around social skills have been added to the desired mix. "Boards of directors tend to hire and evaluate in the way they learned over the course of their careers" Joe believes this issue represents a real challenge for boards. Historical criteria looked at the track record, career progress, responsibilities, and business units or companies. However, those measures were flawed. Traditional ways of evaluating people are subject to error - and now evaluating the new skills required is both different and difficult. "To assist management in hiring a new senior executive… broaden the aperture on what they evaluate"Joe explains that, in his opinion, the first thing a board or committee member hiring a new senior executive needs to do is broaden the aperture of evaluation and widen the kind of experiences they want to see represented in a track record.  "The stakes have never been higher, and the punishment never greater for getting it wrong"Joe points out that senior executives must refine their management and/or communication styles for today's social media. Essentially, anything said at any point during their working day may end up on a platform with global reach and almost no barriers to being observed. The stakes have never been higher. "We have to set aside some of our rather, frankly, lazy approaches to evaluating people"Joe believes that boards need to make clear to executive search firms that they seek people with experience managing different constituencies and handling volatile problems successfully, not proof of someone's performance in more traditional measures. "This is a new era that requires new solutions, and old dogs with old tricks is not going to be a sufficient response"Joe also speaks about internal candidates and highlights how succession planning can be tweaked to grow candidates with the skills required. Career planning and career paths for high potential young executives are essential. The three top takeaways from our conversation are:1.  Remember to subscribe and never miss an episode of the Better Boards Podcast Series. It’s available on Apple, Spotify, or Google. To find out how you can participate in the Better Boards Podcast Series or for more information on Better Boards’ solutions, please email us at info@better-boards.com.

Send us a textDiversity is high on the agenda, yet we still see something different in the boardroom, where more often than not, boards are filled with individuals whose nationality only matches that of the country of the headquarters. FTSE boards are filled with British nationals, DAX boards are filled with German nationals etc. It is clearly challenging to establish a global mindset in the boardroom.In this podcast, Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Founder and Managing Partner of Better Boards, discusses the issue of establishing a global mindset at the board level with Thomas Kipp. Thomas served on the board of Deutsche Post DHL and Aramex and worked and lived in Europe, North America and Asia. He is the newly appointed CEO of Naquel Express."Be respectful and authentic"Thomas believes his upbringing contributed to his ability to adapt quickly to different cultures. He explains that being curious and open-minded to other cultures enables you to really understand how things are done. His best advice is to be respectful and authentic. "It's important to try and understand how you can leverage a global footprint"Thomas gives examples of this when working in Japan, where establishing trust takes time. In the United States, he learned to present ideas as if they were coming from the local teams, making it their idea and their success. In Spain, he found that Spanish people were not so comfortable speaking in English, so allowing interludes for speaking in their own language (letting the emotions and the Southern European passion out), then reverting to English, bringing everyone together again, created more focus. Appreciating the local business environment enables small 'tricks' to have a big impact. "You will find various angles of difficulty in creating… …the same level playing field as if you were dealing with business matters in your home market" Thomas feels that the first difficulty in bringing a global mindset to the boardroom is posed by simply practical reality. In any given country, it is likely that not too many board members will have lengthy, practical, work experience in another country. He states that only around 4% of the world's population has ever left their home country to work for a lengthy period of time. "We say we're operating in international markets, but it doesn't really show in the way we're running the company" Thomas points out that running a business with an international element is a clear strategic decision. Practically, that decision needs to be carefully thought through in terms of what it will mean for the organisation, for designing or redesigning the leadership team, and what it will mean to integrate the international business into the company setup actively. He suggests that the leadership team and board must represent the international reality. The three top takeaways from our conversation are:1.      It is a serious strategic and business undertaking to expand business internationally. There should be a clear conscious effort to reflect this in the leadership and organisational setup, from the boardroom down to the shop floor2.     On a personal note, Remember to subscribe and never miss an episode of the Better Boards Podcast Series. It’s available on Apple, Spotify, or Google. To find out how you can participate in the Better Boards Podcast Series or for more information on Better Boards’ solutions, please email us at info@better-boards.com.

Send us a textCEO appointments are an important responsibility of Boards. Accordingly, Boards need to ensure they have adequate qualified internal and external candidates for successful CEO selection processes. Creating CEO readiness for internal candidates is as important as working with external search advisors.In this podcast, Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Founder and Managing Partner of Better Boards discusses CEO readiness with Dr Wayne Nelson, Senior Partner at Deloitte Consulting and Strategy Consulting Leader Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at Monitor Deloitte. He is also Head and Founding Dean of the Deloitte Executive Leadership Institute. "Nature and nurture both play a role in the development of leaders"Wayne starts by explaining that, of course, both nature and nurture play a role in the development of leaders. Wayne found that roughly 30% of participants are 'accidental CEOs.' These leaders stumbled into the CEO role by being in the right place at the right time, and happen to have the required skills and experiences. These leaders, however, had no plans to become CEO. However, most CEOs intentionally sought out the role. Wayne feels this suggests that leaders can do intentional, deliberate things to increase their readiness and chances of moving into a CEO role.  "The CEO role is a very challenging one that comes with huge personal sacrifices"Wayne suggests that the CEO role often brings isolation and loneliness, and requires a thick skin and an ability to be resilient.   Candidates need to realise this and be sure they really want the job and are willing to make sacrifices. "We're seeing a whole new generation of executives"Wayne explains that company products have well-defined attributes and values, communicated with great care to ensure clarity and consistency. Executives in the market for a CEO role also need to define a brand for themselves - simple, relevant, and authentic. They need to communicate this consistently, over and over again, and new social media channels are ideal for this. "The best CEO hires are fit for circumstance"Wayne explains that 'fit for circumstance' means that the best CEO hires can explicitly connect the company's circumstances with an attractive future vision – and then connect these to their own experiences, capabilities, potential, and motivation. The four key elements defining fit for circumstance are (1) The situation, expectations and vision for the company. (2) The type of leader the company needs. (3) The candidate's capabilities, experiences, and potential. (4) The candidate's motivation and authentic self. The best CEO hires fulfill all four."Board members need to think about what type of leader the company needs explicitly"Wayne has seen that very experienced board members have categories of CEO types in their minds that they can easily match with the current situation of the company. This needs to be discussed early on, however, not in the heat of the moment and not during recruitment when a selection is being made.   He believes that succession planning needs to be done early, and thus for a CEO role, internal candidates should be developed, not necessarily always looRemember to subscribe and never miss an episode of the Better Boards Podcast Series. It’s available on Apple, Spotify, or Google. To find out how you can participate in the Better Boards Podcast Series or for more information on Better Boards’ solutions, please email us at info@better-boards.com.

Send us a textOrganisations face ever-increasing scrutiny, and their purpose beyond making monies for their shareholders matters more than ever. In a previous podcast, we discussed Generation Z. For this younger generation, corporate purpose matters even more. So in this podcast, we explore the role of the board in defining the purpose of the organisation, and the importance of aligning purpose with the strategy and culture. Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Founder and Managing Partner of Better Boards, discusses the role of the board in defining the purpose of the organisation with Gill Meller. Gill is the Legal & Governance Director of MTR Corporation, a company headquartered and listed in Hong Kong, responsible for the construction and operation of the Hong Kong metro system and the development of transit-oriented communities. "Profits are simply the result of the activities that you carry out"Gill believes that corporate purpose is incredibly important because understanding your purpose means understanding why the organisation exists and was established. Corporates have to be financially sustainable, but she argues that profits are simply the result of the activities you carry out, and they are not in themselves a purpose.  Gill feels that knowing and understanding corporate purpose is important for two main reasons. Firstly, a corporate purpose gives people, something to "get behind." In particular, Gen Z employees tend to want to work for a company whose purpose they feel makes a positive contribution to the world. Secondly,  she explains that purpose gives you a "guiding star" when trying to make difficult decisions. "What sort of problem were we designed to try and address or help solve?Gill believes the role of the board is critical. Following changes in Hong Kong's stock exchange corporate governance code last year, the board's role was enhanced, explicitly saying that a company's purpose, values and strategy should be established by the board and aligned with the culture. "Culture is incredibly important, as is aligning your culture with your strategy"Gill believes it is important to try to establish alignment between purpose, strategy and culture. She sees culture as a crucial part of corporate governance. She feels that in today's world, where compliance is no longer enough, companies are now expected by a broad group of stakeholders to be doing the 'right thing.' Unfortunately, stakeholder perceptions of what the 'right thing' is can change very quickly. The culture needs to be agile enough to respond to those changes. "Sometimes people are uncomfortable with raising bad news"Gill feels certain aspects of culture probably benefit every company, such as a 'speak up' culture or an agile culture that can respond to changes in the external environment. However, she notes that creating a 'speak up' culture is a challenge, especially within the Asian culture, where organisations are predominantly hierarchical. People can feel uncomfortable raising bad news up the chain of the organisation, so she advocates repeating the message from a cultural perspective that this is what is needed.The three top takeaways:Ask questions about thRemember to subscribe and never miss an episode of the Better Boards Podcast Series. It’s available on Apple, Spotify, or Google. To find out how you can participate in the Better Boards Podcast Series or for more information on Better Boards’ solutions, please email us at info@better-boards.com.

Send us a textThis podcast was recorded in August 2022, just after a record-breaking heatwave in the UK. Since the start of temperature recording in 1884, the ten warmest years in the UK have all been recorded since 2002. At the same time, rainfall is the lowest since records began, and hosepipe bans have been introduced in parts of the UK, while wildfires are raging across Europe. Climate change has become evident. However, some Directors feel a greater sense of urgency than others. In this podcast, Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Founder and Managing Partner of Better Boards, talks with Susan Hooper. Susan is Chair of Tangle Teezer, Chair Designate of Inter. Earth, and sits on the Boards of Moonpig plc, EUROWAG plc, and Uber UK.   She is Acting Chair of Carbon Gap, a Founding Director of Chapter Zero, and she is involved in several start-ups in carbon capture and sustainability.  Susan is also an Ambassador for the World Travel & Tourism Council."Climate change is time-boxed - we know the clock is ticking"Susan points out that as recently as 2018, climate change was usually not on the agenda or discussed in board meetings. It is now but mainly because of external requirements. She believes that one of the reasons for the lack of attention to climate change was the lack of understanding that this is not "just another crisis" but a situation without precedent. "For every risk and issue that you are trying to solve, there is at least one opportunity that you hadn't even dreamed was there"Any problem can seem insurmountable but Susan says in these cases, you need to break it down into small manageable parts. The reality is that once this is done, people can understand and find solutions. "Not everyone feels comfortable with the depth of change that is needed"Susan feels that at the board level, there can be a feeling of overwhelm about change. Directors typically come to the board with decades of experience, knowing how to manage the circumstances prevalent in those decades. However, environmental issues can place them in uncomfortable territory. "You definitely don't want to be the lone voice"Susan explains that climate change is a topic where she can find herself the lone voice on a board. She feels board members have to be comfortable with not being "loved." "You've got just to keep chipping away at this issue" Susan points out that this subject keeps changing, so the learning never stops. In the absence of climate specialists on the board, the rest of the board must inform themselves. She has found that bringing in outside advisors to speak helps board members to learn. "This is an important issue that needs attention and to be embraced by the board"Susan confides that she has made a personal pact with herself not to work for a company where the CEO and/or Chair is not recognising that this is an important issue that needs to be embraced by the board. "We mustn't expect everyone to become climate specialists"Susan reminds us that board members are responsible for ensuring that climate competency is within the company in such a way that it will address the issues but not every Remember to subscribe and never miss an episode of the Better Boards Podcast Series. It’s available on Apple, Spotify, or Google. To find out how you can participate in the Better Boards Podcast Series or for more information on Better Boards’ solutions, please email us at info@better-boards.com.

Send us a textDigitalisation is a tsunami reshaping the world and challenging organisations. However, few Directors have both the first-hand experience and the know-how to oversee organisations’ digital challenges. In this podcast, Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Founder and Managing Partner of Better Boards, discusses digital know-how with Hassan el Bouhali from Toronto, Canada.  They discuss the barriers to bringing digital know-how into the boardroom, steps organisations have taken to increase their board digital acumen, where boards can find the digital talent they need, and what they need to do after recruiting a suitable candidate. Hassan is a business executive with 25 years’ experience in various industries leading to SVP Business Transformation & CIO roles for global multinationals.  He holds board advisory positions with established industrial companies and is active in the Canadian tech ecosystems as a Mentor and Angel Investor.Hassan explains that no industry is immune from digital disruption. Despite this reality, he observes that most boards lack the required digital knowledge or what he calls a ‘digital IQ’ to fully face digital opportunities and risks.  Moreover, even when boards do hire digital savvy executives, it is generally difficult for these new members to steer board discussion beyond basic tech risks. He notes that deep strategic discussion about how digital is transforming the industry value chain and the company business model are still the exception. Hassan believes that the biggest barriers to getting digital know-how into boardrooms are:  1.        There is often an entrenched belief that the management practices that worked in the ‘industrial age’ are still valid for the digital age.  2.      There is the natural human aversion to risk. Embarking on a true digital transformation that changes the value chain or transforms the business is inherently risky.3.      The nature of technology itself is also a key factor. Hassan says.  Digital technologies are different from industrial age ones by design, making them difficult to comprehend.Regarding best practices in bringing technology into the boardroom, Hassan feels things are improving.  Firstly, he finds that most organisations now have a digital committee. Secondly, he observed the value of digital development programmes that increase the overall board's digital IQ. Thirdly, he sees an increase in the frequency of discussions about technology and digitalisation, as well as changing the focus of discussion from risks to growth opportunities.Hassan notes that board members need to govern the enterprise not run the business. New board candidates need a high level of ease with technology, and to have done or delivered technology-driven products, projects, or large-scale transformations that allow them to understand how technology enables or generates value in economic terms. Once suitable talent has been recruited, onboarding is crucial.  Here the Chair has an important role in giving the new members time to speak up and most importantly, to be open to the new jargon and the new mix of opportunities and risks that technology and digitalisation bring to the table.The three top takeaways from our conversation are:1.     Remember to subscribe and never miss an episode of the Better Boards Podcast Series. It’s available on Apple, Spotify, or Google. To find out how you can participate in the Better Boards Podcast Series or for more information on Better Boards’ solutions, please email us at info@better-boards.com.