Dr Smart is Chair and Founder of GH Smart, a global leadership advisory, which has published three bestselling books: Who? A Method for Hiring, The CEO Next Door, and PowerScore. Tune in to hear his answers to: Where do boards go wrong with hiring?  (0:57) Why do boards continue to over-rely on gut feelings and referrals? (2:36) How can boards embrace diverse candidates, without relying on hypothetical questions at interviews? (5:10) What’s best practice for drafting role scorecard briefs? (8:44) Why don’t organisations search more thoroughly when they hire board members? (13:11) Can you talk through the four interviews that constitute your selection process? (19:21) Can you outline the “Who” and “Focus” interviews? (24:19) What do you think of cognitive ability and psychometric testing? (33:43) What do you think of job specific testing? (37:52) Why doesn’t the disclaimer “past performance is no guarantee of future results” apply to individuals? (39:12) And ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(41:40) 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

Paul Pester is Chair at Tandem Bank, NED at National Bank of Bahrain and former CEO of Virgin Money and TSB Banking Group. Tune in to hear Paul’s thoughts on: Where did the Virgin Money board add most value to you as CEO? (2:07) Can you talk about the rotating Chair concept? (3:44) Where could the board have added more value to you? (4:52) How did the Santander board help during the banking crisis? (7:56) How much detail should board members get into? (11:03) Why do things go wrong, in spite of experienced boards? (15:03) What keeps you awake at night as a board member? (17:17) How can boards impact company culture? (20:23) Are there quantitative frameworks boards can use to work on culture? (26:14) Do you have data that demonstrates how brand impacts revenue? (27:41) How did you start your board career? (31:23) How do you understand the role of the board? (33:10) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(35:45) 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

Shuo Chen is an investor, board member and faculty member at IOVC, Stanford, UC Berkeley, EY, California Mental Health Commission, Google Female Founders, Reed Smith, Forbes China and Decode amongst others. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: How have you built your plural career? (2:36) How should board members be thinking about the future of work? (7:34) What are the practical implications of fractional work for board members? (10:13) How can boards tread the line between diversification and di-worsification? (13:02) How should boards be thinking about AI? (16:57) How should boards think about innovation/value capture versus focus? (28:20) What’s your experience of boards as an entrepreneur? (34:28)  Where have you seen start-up boards add and destroy most value? (37:03) ⚡ The Lightning Round ⚡(40:43) 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

Dominic Joseph co-founded Captify, the world’s second largest independent holder of search data, after Google. Now a plural NED and Chair of tech scale-ups, Dominic is also founding partner at Creative Capital Ventures Group, a growth consultancy for post Series-A companies. Tune in to his discussion with Nurole CEO Oliver Cummings to hear his thoughts on: When and why did you first have a board at Captify? (2:15) How did you set your first board up? (4:00) What kind of value did board members bring individually versus as a group? (4:41) What was the balance between presentation and discussion in your interactions with the board? (6:26) Where did the board add most value to you as CEO? (7:22) What do you think about annual budget setting and tracking versus a more agile approach? (12:07) What touch points did you have with board members between formal meetings? (14:53) Which board members did you rely on for what? (16:09) What value did you get from being challenged in the boardroom? (19:49) What advice would you give to founders thinking about board composition? (21:35) Did you have a former CEO on your board? (23:45) Did you work with coaches? (25:58) What tools can board members use to help founders in growth journeys? (27:56) How can founders get the most from investor-directors? (30:14) How can investor-directors add most value to founders? (32:45)⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(34:30)   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

Anne de Kerckhove is Chair of Eagle Eye Solutions, and SID & Committee Chair at 888 Holdings and Blackbird plc. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: How have your exec successes at SAAS scale-ups informed your non-exec work? (2:23) What are the key metrics boards need to focus on? (3:54) How much detail should boards ask for? (5:44) What do boards need to focus on for acquisitions? (6:49) Why do people underestimate how long mergers take? (8:33) What do you wish you’d known when you started international expansion? (9:20) What are the common mistakes organisations make with data? (11:18) Do you want to see first-hand data? (12:58) What are your key lessons from nomination committees? (14:22) Who owns the nominations process? (16:58) What have you learnt about asking board members to step down? (19:44) What’s best practice for job specs for board positions? (24:27) What training do you do for your boards? (27:04) Where have you added the most value as a SID? (28:35) How do you approach an underperforming Chair? (31:58) What advice do you have for those at the start of their board careers? (34:03)  How can you differentiate yourself as a board candidate? (36:33) And ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(38:13) 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

Lord Charles Allen, Baron Allen of Kensington, CBE, is Chair of Moelis & Co, Balfour Beatty Plc, Global Media & Entertainment Group, and The Invictus Games. Listen to his conversation with Nurole CEO Oliver Cummings to hear his thoughts on: As a CEO and NED, what have you learnt from your Chairs which you now replicate as a Chair? (2:26) What are the bad Chair examples you’ve learnt from? (5:39) What have been your most challenging experiences hiring and firing the CEO? (8:04) How do you evaluate incumbent CEOs? (10:07) What role do your NEDs play in the CEO evaluation? (12:10) What are the most effective ways of developing under-performing CEOs? (13:31) Have you ever considered stepping into the Exec Chair role? (17:29) As a Chair, are you still too slow to fire people? (20:19) What have you learned about assessing prospective CEOs? (21:28) What have been your biggest mistakes with CEO succession? (22:36) How do you do due diligence for prospective Chair roles? (24:32) How does your due diligence differ if your prospective Chief Exec is a charismatic Founder-CEO? (26:38) Is there a right time to become a Chair? (27:40)⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(28:37) And audience Q&A: first-time NEDs, challenging dynamics, different styles, ESG, regrets, skin in the game & compensation (34:08)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

John Maltby is Chair of Allica Bank, Max Nicholas Renewables, and The West Brom Building Society and NED at Nordea. Listen to his conversation with Nurole CEO Oliver Cummings to hear his responses to: Can you talk through your transition from CEO to Chair? (2:07) What bad Chair experiences did you learn from? (4:47) What did you do to prepare for the role? (8:54) Do Chairs need prior experience in their firm’s sector? (11:13)  Why should firms not go for Chairs who have done exactly what they’re looking for before? (14:11) What are the essential things organisations need to look for when hiring Chairs? (16:21) How can you stand out as a Chair candidate? (18:54) Do you have a framework for assessing Chairs? (21:21) How do you think about board tenure? (25:10) How do you think about risk? (28:50) And ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(35:48) 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

Dawn Marriott is a partner at HG, a private equity firm, where she Chairs two portfolio companies. A serial PE Chair, Dawn is also a board member at Geomatikk and Aztecs, where she was formerly CEO. Tune in to Dawn’s conversation with Nurole CEO Oliver Cummings to hear her answers to: What’s the role of a Scale-Up Board? (2:21) As a Chair, do you have a particular methodology to draw value out of board members? (4:23) Practically, how do you assess the contributions of each board member? (6:20) How do you think about new board members versus external consultants when you need specific functional expertise? (9:38) What is the different value of independent and investor directors? (12:28) How do you think about chairing versus executive chairing? (19:16) Do you have a framework for thinking about where and how you amplify CEO performance to best effect? (21:53) How do you figure out where you can add most value to CEOs need? (24:49) How do you assess both prospective and incumbent CEOs? (26:39) Have you spotted any patterns in CEOs who don’t make the cut? (29:50) How do you think about board composition and archetypes? (34:15) Do you consider the balance of personality types on your boards? (37:19) And ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(39:21)  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

Alex Denny is Committee Chair at the Association of Investment Companies and Trustee at the Nautical Archeology Society. He is a former Managing Director at Pantheon Ventures and Head of Investment Trusts at Fidelity International. Tune in to his conversation with Nurole CEO Oliver Cummings to hear his answers to: Can you give us an overview of the investment trust sector and its appeal for board members? (2:06) What are the hallmarks of the best and worst investment trust boards you’ve seen? (5:32) How many board members are brave enough to split with eponymous fund managers? (7:56) How can investment trust boards hold their managers to account? (11:09) What do you see the best investment trust boards doing around strategy? (19:08) How are the best boards addressing discounts? (26:41) How have you built your plural career in investment trusts? (30:25) How have your non-exec roles influenced your executive career? (33:56) And ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(37:05)  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

Baroness Morrissey is former/Chair of Altum Group, Fidelis Insurance Group, Investment Industry Diversity Project, AJ Bell and The Investment Association. In this conversation with Nurole CEO, Oliver Cummings, she answers: Did you see the fee issues at St James’s Place coming? (1:42) How can board members challenge the status quo successfully? (5:52) How do you decide when to stand down and when to dig in? (12:00) What do you know now which you wish you’d known at the beginning of your non-exec career? (13:36) As a board member, how do you build honest and trusting relationships with colleagues? (15:28) What are your most effective board rituals as a Chair? (18:07) How do you formulate strategy with management? (25:19) How can Chairs be more inclusive? (29:25) What is the board’s role in supporting working parents? (31:04) And ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(39:54) 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