Mary Ann Sieghart is SID at Pantheon International plc, Remco Chair at Guardian Media Group and best-selling author of The Authority Gap. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: What is the authority gap? (0:56) What would you say to those who challenge the idea women are taken less seriously than men? (2:15) Why should men close the authority gap, apart from it being the right thing to do? (8:16) Why has the authority gap developed in the first place? (11:12) Why aren’t more organisations making the most of the arbitrage opportunity of female talent? (15:52) Why hasn’t the market corrected the authority gap? (17:38) How does the authority gap manifest on boards? (20:26) What can board members do to counteract their bias? (22:27) How can boards assess their inclusivity? (25:09) Have you come across organisations that have closed the authority gap successfully? (27:55) What can men do to promote female voices in the boardroom? (30:45) Do men and women add different value to boards? (33:22) What have been the highlights and lowlights of the board dynamics you’ve experienced? (38:22) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(41:09) Host: Oliver CummingsProducer: Will Felton Music: Kate Mac Audio: Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Cedi Frederick is Chair of NHS Kent & Medway and the Centre for Healthy & Empowered Communities, and NED at Sage Homes and Impact Healthcare REIT plc. Tune in to hear his answers to: What does work on a housing association board involve? (0:47) Practically, how does the Sage Homes board add value? (4:50) What risks do you worry about most on Housing Association boards? (9:38) What are the rewards of being on a Housing Association board? (12:46) What are your key areas of focus on NHS Trust boards? (15:10) Does the government need to spend more on healthcare? (19:01) What advice do you have for people with commercial backgrounds who want to join NHS Trust boards? (22:55) Have you ever felt discrimination in the boardroom? (26:27) Where have you seen the most positive impact of diversity? (28:28) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(31:19)  Host: Oliver CummingsProducer: Will Felton Music: Kate Mac Audio: Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Dr Isabel Fernandez-Mateo is a professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at London Business School, where she holds the Adecco Chair. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: What have you learned about rejections that those involved in board hiring should be aware of? (0:53) Have you noticed any demographic differences? (3:11) What are the practical implications for organisations hiring board members? (4:02) How can applicants get the most out of rejections? (5:09) Does an organisation's rejection process impact its performance? (7:17) What are the most common barriers to gender diversity? (9:16) What can board members do to remove them? (12:05) What data do boards need to diagnose and address the problem? (14:47) How do organisations know what their demographic targets should be? (15:53) How should boards define someone’s qualifications for a role? (18:38) Why should board members be more aware of their organisation’s internal professional relationships? (20:15) How can board members monitor these relationships? (22:00) What would you say to those who feel that relationships should be measured by gut, rather than analytics and data? (24:12) What are the ways in which relationships are influencing career outcomes which would be most surprising for our listeners? (25:33) How can people identify which relationships to invest in? (27:34) What is people analytics, and where do people get it wrong? (29:24) Do you have any examples of best practice? (34:17) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(36:09) Host: Oliver CummingsProducer: Will Felton Music: Kate Mac Audio: Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Dan Gardner, an international best-selling author known for his works on risk and organizational effectiveness, shares insights on making boards more effective. He discusses how modular thinking, akin to LEGO construction, can enhance project success. Gardner emphasizes the need to prioritize climate risk in board agendas and contrasts the roles of intuition and analytical thinking in decision-making. He also explores the psychological effects of heuristics on risk perception and highlights the importance of maintaining intellectual humility in governance.

Dan Gardner is an international best-selling author known for his insights on forecasting and decision-making. He discusses the essence of probabilistic thinking and how it can empower board members. Gardner emphasizes the importance of epistemic humility, warning against the pitfalls of past successes and the common underestimation of luck. He also explores strategies for effective feedback on decisions and assessing a prospective member's judgment. Additionally, he highlights the significance of using real-world data to navigate budgeting challenges.

Sir Nigel Rudd is former/Chair of Pendragon plc, Pilkington, Invensys plc, Heathrow Airport, Business Growth Fund, Signature Aviation plc and Meggitt plc. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: Are listed boards entrepreneurial enough? (1:15) Why has private equity superseded conglomerates? (3:08) Should board members have skin in the game? (5:40) How do you approach negotiations? (8:51) How do you think about risk? (12:50) How do you assess business propositions? (15:26) How do you think about strategic acquisitions? (17:26) What should board members do if the board isn’t listening to them? (21:14) What have you learnt about Chair succession? (23:19) About CEO succession? (25:41) And about the Chair-CEO relationship? (28:49) How do you develop strategy? (29:49) Do Chairs need sector knowledge? (31:23) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(33:26) Host: Oliver CummingsProducer: Will Felton Music: Kate Mac Audio: Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Lucy Walker is Chair at Aurora Investment Trust plc, SID at Henderson International Income Trust plc, Audit & Risk Committee Member at SportsAid and Founder at AM Insights. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: Why did you build a non-exec portfolio so early in your career? (0:34) How have different kinds of pro bono roles helped you in your non-exec career? (3:51) How did you transition from pro bono to paid roles? (6:38) What have been the biggest challenges for you as a relatively young non-exec? (8:54) How can investment trusts reach younger retail investors? (10:54) Should investment trusts be going direct to consumers? (13:12) How are you thinking about the cost of shareholder acquisition? (14:46) What value do the boards add at Aurora and Henderson? (16:05) What process do you use to develop strategy? (19:24) Is there ever tension between what shareholders want and what will produce the best returns? (25:38) How would you assess a potential merger? (29:27) Any tips for others wanting to transition from NED to Chair? (31:14) As a Chair, what are you looking for in prospective board members? (33:46) Can you walk me through a board skills matrix you’ve done recently? (35:26) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(37:17)Host: Oliver CummingsProducer: Will Felton Music: Kate Mac Audio: Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Suranga Chandratillake OBE is General Partner at Balderton Capital, where he sits on nine portfolio company boards, Advisory Board Member at Cambridge University Endowment Fund and Founder of Blink, which he took public and achieved a market cap of $1bn. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: What role did the board play in your highs and lows as a Founder? (0:41) Where did the board add most value for you? (1:56) What were the biggest highs with the board? (3:44) What were the biggest lows? (6:40) What advice do you have for Founders / CEOs, pre-exit? (8:35) What makes a good and bad investor director? (10:37) How can CEOs deal with bad investor directors? (13:32)  When should investor-directors swap out? (17:58) What have you learnt about investor-directors through tough recent times? (20:14) What lessons can we learn to make sure investor-directors don’t flip into panic mode? (22:59) How can boards help CEOs make tough decisions? (26:46) When should business first have boards? (29:39) What’s your playbook for selecting Chairs? (31:06) And⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(33:42)Host: Oliver CummingsProducer: Will Felton Music: Kate Mac Audio: Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Rebecca Robins is Founder & CEO of a consultancy at the intersection of brand, culture and leadership, lecturer at Cambridge University, advisor at Chartered Management Institute and Quilt.AI, and former NomCom Chair at EY Foundation. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: Can you summarise what you see as the five generations opportunity? (0:57) What can we do to foster more intergenerational collaboration? (3:13) What role do respect and humility play? (6:49) Practically, how can boards get the benefit of younger perspectives? (11:30) Why did you start the next gen board at Interbrand? (17:10) What were the challenges? (22:04) What lessons can we learn from next gen boards at the FT and Pentland Group? (27:25) Where do next gen boards go wrong? (33:34) How would you advocate for the opportunities of next gen boards? (36:20) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(37:45)Host: Oliver CummingsProducer: Will Felton Music: Kate Mac Audio: Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Evan Epstein is host of the Boardroom Governance podcast, #1 governance podcast in the US, executive director at the Centre for Business Law, adjunct professor at University of California Law and founder and managing partner at Pacifica Global. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: What are your top five insights from your podcast guests? (0:54) What level of involvement do board members need to be non-amateurs? (3:52) What is the value of independent board members? (5:27) Can you talk about Tyler Shultz’s insight “fraud is not a trade secret”? (10:05) What lessons can board members take from Theranos? (15:59) How would you sell governance to a sceptical CEO? (18:49) What went wrong at Open AI? (21:51) What could the Open AI board have done differently? (28:01) What patterns do you see in silicon valley governance explosions? (30:43) What options do boards have with high-risk, high-return Founders? (33:02) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(38:06) Host: Oliver CummingsProducer: Will Felton Music: Kate Mac Audio: Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom