Enter the Boardroom with Nurole

Stanislav Shekshnia is a professor at INSEAD, where he directs board development programs. He is Chair of TechnoEnergy AG and has held numerous chair and director positions across the EU and US. Tune in to hear his thoughts on:  How should Chairs prepare for new roles? (1:42) What can Chairs do to build a sense of team on their boards? (5:42) What are the most effective means boards can use to assess themselves? (13:21) Do you see value in constructive disagreement on boards? (15:51) Do Chairs need industry expertise? (22:21) How do you assess facilitation skills in prospective Chairs? (25:28) How do you handle a CEO who isn’t engaging with the board? (27:56) Would we be better off using professional facilitators or AI instead of Chairs? (30:39) How do you assess yourself as a Chair? (32:09) What do Chairs need to do to own the prep work? (35:38) ⚡The Lightning round ⚡(39:14)   Host: Oliver Cummings Producer: Will Felton Editor: Penelope Coumau Music: Kate Mac Audio: Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Angela Seymour-Jackson is Chair of Page Group, Deputy Chair of Pikl, SID at TrustPilot Group, and NED at Future and Janus Henderson Group. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: Can you describe your journey into the boardroom? (1:47) As Chair, what archetypes do you want around the board table? (6:25) What frameworks do you use to understand the range of organisations across your portfolio? (12:32) How do you understand businesses which have less obvious purposes? (17:54) How do you make sure technology is sufficiently embedded in your organisation? (20:04) How are you approaching AI specifically? (23:23) How do you identify and prioritise strategic discussion points like AI on your boards? (28:15) How do you approach CEO succession? (32:15) Are boards too reactive when it comes to succession? (39:11) ⚡The Lightning round ⚡(42:55)Host: Oliver Cummings Producer: Will Felton Editor: Penelope Coumau Music: Kate Mac Audio: Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Nadhim Zahawi is a former cabinet minister and Conservative Party chair. Before his parliamentary career, he founded YouGov, where he was CEO for a decade. Tune in to hear Nadhim’s thoughts on: What have been your sliding doors moments in your journey into the boardroom? (1:58) How did you cut through bureaucracy with the Vaccine Task Force? (10:59) How do you deal with the court of public opinion as someone from a commercial background? (17:50) You brought in previous education secretaries as a pop-up board when you took on the role - was it effective? (24:37) Does government (and business) need a more agile means of accessing external expertise? (30:50) Should people with commercial backgrounds bother applying for government roles? (34:29)  Were there specific moments when board members created breakthroughs at YouGov? (36:56) How do you reflect on your decision to go public? (39:46)  And ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(43:48) Host: Oliver Cummings Producer: Will Felton Editor: Penelope Coumau Music: Kate Mac Audio: Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Tamara Box, a partner at Reed Smith LLP and chair at Interpath Advisory, shares her insights on advisory boards and professional services. She discusses the challenges of board dysfunction despite talent, and how her advisory board elevated performance in a changing workplace. Tamara emphasizes the importance of diversity in board perspectives, the transition challenges post-private equity, and strategies for leveraging technology. She also reflects on her plural career and what she seeks in board candidates—curiosity and passion.

Eamon Devlin is adjunct professor and associate fellow at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, founder of Minute9, an elite sports consultancy, and co-founder of MJ Hudson, a private equity law firm. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: To what extent do board meetings resemble half-time team talks for the executive? (1:53) How do you decide who should be present at half-time, and can boards use similar criteria? (5:07) How can you get external voices into the discussion without derailing it? (6:42) What lessons can board members learn from alignment around the purpose of team talks? (8:55) What have you learnt about transitioning into team talks that could apply to board meetings? (12:22) How can boards foster the kind of experimental mindset we see in elite sport? (20:59) Can you explain how Chairs might use the ctrl-alt-delete speech in board meetings? (23:00) Do you have any other storytelling tips board members might find helpful? (28:23) Where did the board add value to you at MJ Hudson, and where could they have added more value? (34.28) What are the biggest risks boards need to be aware of when a company goes public? (37:06) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(38:49)Host: Oliver Cummings Producer: Will Felton Editor: Penelope Coumau Music: Kate Mac Audio: Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Nuala Walsh, a behavioural scientist and board director, offers powerful insights into how biases can derail decision-making in boardrooms. She unpacks the trilogy of errors—blind, deaf, and dumb spots—that lead to poor choices. Nuala introduces the PERIMETERS framework to help board members recognize these biases and emphasizes the necessity of building it into their decision-making processes. She shares personal stories of influencing consensus-driven boards, highlighting the importance of dissent and effective communication to foster better outcomes.

Gerry Brown is Chair of Novaquest Capital Management and G Brown Associates. A plural Chair and NED across private equity, family and listed businesses, Gerry is co-author of three books about boards, including Disaster in the Boardroom. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: Is there such a thing as a comprehensive risk checklist applicable to all boards? (2:07) How do you apply your framework of the six archetypal board dysfunctions on the boards you sit on? (4:01) With a limited number of seats, how do you ensure you get the right voices in the boardroom? (6:57) How do you bring outside voices into the boardroom? (9:04) Can you talk about the problem of the distended board at Uber? (12:27) Are some dysfunctional archetypes more prevalent than others? (16:37) What relevance do these dysfunctions have beyond big corporates? (19:48) What advice would you give a new board member who wants to challenge a successful CEO? (23:54) How do you define and measure healthy board culture? (28:50) Can you give an example where you’ve changed a problematic board culture? (32:42) When haven’t you been able to change board culture? (34:59) How do you remove control shareholders who are damaging other stakeholders? (35:38) How do you assess independent directors as a Chair? (37:29) How do you assess integrity? (39:52) What professional development do you undertake? (40:43) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(44:12) Host: Oliver Cummings Producer: Will Felton Editor: Penelope Coumau Music: Kate Mac Audio: Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

When have boards added most value to you as an exec? (2:48) When was the last time your board challenged you as CEO? (5:38) How can non-execs challenge execs, without compromising trust? (7:05) How have you and the board of the Natural History Museum got comfortable that your 550m transformation project won’t overrun? (8:52) Could you distill Amazon’s ways of working and how they might apply to boards? (12:33) Can non-execs help instil good judgement in execs? (18:46) What are the other ways in which non-execs can materially impact their organisations? (25:12) How should board members be thinking about AI? (28:44) What can board members do to better undertake their environmental responsibilities? (32:44) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(35:11) Audience Q&A (40:57) Host: Oliver Cummings Producer: Will Felton Editor: Penelope Coumau Music: Kate Mac Audio: Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Ali Parsa founded Babylon Health, which he grew to a $4.1bn equity valuation in 2021 before it entered Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in 2023. Tune in to hear this amazing story, including Ali’s thoughts on: How has your backstory, escaping Iran in the 80s, informed your approach to entrepreneurship? (2:20) How have you managed to fundraise so successfully? (3:21) What advice do you have for others who are fundraising? (8:01) How did you scale revenues so quickly?(11:24) How did you break into the right distribution channels? (15:12) How do you identify the right person at partner organisations? (16:18) Was launching in the UK rather than US a mistake? (20:40) How did you decide which markets to go after? (25:06) What can board members do to encourage better cross-functional collaboration? (28:24) What value did you get from investor-directors? (31:13) What lessons did you learn through bankruptcy? (35:44) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(38:39) Host: Oliver Cummings Producer: Will Felton Editor: Penelope Coumau Music: Kate Mac Audio: Nick Kold Email: podcast@nurole.com Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Amy C. Edmondson, a celebrated Professor at Harvard Business School and top management thinker, dives into the concept of psychological safety in boardrooms. She shares why it's crucial for fostering open conversations and effective decision-making. The discussion highlights strategies for assessing and improving psychological safety, addressing challenges posed by remote work, and navigating organizational failures. Amy also offers insights on challenging leadership dynamics and the importance of candid dialogue to drive innovation and growth.