All Episodes

174. Vivienne Artz OBE: What boards get wrong about AI and data

173. Andy Higginson: Laura Ashley's near collapse, Tesco's legendary strategy and turning round Morrisons

172. Danuta Gray: What nobody tells you about the Chair-CEO relationship (2/2)

171. Danuta Gray: The hardest decisions a Chair has to make (1/2)

170. Julian Metcalfe OBE: founder of Pret and Itsu - why most boards fail founders

169. Laura Hagan: What boards get wrong about people: founders, talent and pay

168. Peter Norris: Leading through crisis: Barings Bank and Virgin Atlantic's Covid fight for survival

167. Claire Bassett: What you need to know before joining a public sector board

166. Simon Calver: From LoveFilm to Mothercare: The board behaviours that make and break companies

165. Rachel Carrell: What founders need from their boards

164. Adam Warby: Authority in the boardroom: how it's earned, lost and rebuilt

163. Sim Scavazza: Do no harm: cost cutting and mergers - inside NHS boards

162. Neil Johnson OBE: From battlefield to boardroom: chairing lessons on people, power and responsibility

161. Maria Molland: Balancing stability with scaling: Boardroom lessons from Thinx’s exit to Kimberly-Clark

160. Lubomila Jordanova: What founders don’t say out loud in the boardroom: vulnerability, partnerships and key connections

159: Sir Ian Cheshire: How to be a high-impact board member (2/2)

158: Sir Ian Cheshire: How to get the most value from your board as a CEO (1/2)

157. Professor Malcolm Press CBE: University boards - lessons from the Vice Chancellor of Manchester Met and President of Universities UK

156. David Sproul: How boards help CEOs create sustainable growth - lessons from Deloitte & Starling Bank

155. Amanda Mackenzie OBE: From Advertising Executive to FTSE 100 NED: How Amanda Built a Purpose-Led Portfolio Career

154. Sir James Wates CBE: How to be a good board chair - family businesses & the RFU

153. Phil Walker CBE: University boards: lessons in stakeholder management, ethical decision-making and data points

152. Rupert Soames OBE: How to be a good listed company chair

151. Natasha Frangos: How to sustain culture whilst growing rapidly - boardroom lessons from HaysMac

150. Sir Douglas Flint CBE: Chairing listed companies - lessons from the BP Macondo crisis, HSBC and the abrdn rebrand

149. Mark Winlow: Bank & Insurance Boards - lessons from the boards of Aon and Starling Bank

148. Professor Doyin Atewologun: Should boards ditch DEI?

147. Tessa Clarke: Sticking, quitting & the ideal NED: The board’s role in Olio’s success

146. Dame Marie Gabriel CBE: structuring board meetings, dancing in the boardroom, and taking risks - lessons from an NHS Chair

145. Thomas Thune Andersen: Impacting culture, managing IPOs and embracing the climate revolution - Boardroom Lessons from the former/Chair of Ørsted and Lloyd’s Register Group

144. Professor Alison Taylor: Should boards speak up or shut up?

143. Charles McManus: Quick growth in heavy regulation — the board’s role in ClearBank’s success

142. David Dein MBE, Premier League co-founder: The heart of the deal: lessons from vice-chairing Arsenal FC

141. Louise Hill, GoHenry Founder: Product Market Fit, Scaling and Exit - the board’s role in the GoHenry story

140. Professor Randall Peterson: How to influence people in the boardroom

139. Fiona Hathorn: How and why to get board roles: mastering applications, transitioning to paid roles and building a plural career

138. Steve Rigby: Risk & acquisitions - the growth story of the Rigby family business from £0 to £4bn annual revenues

137. Baroness Dido Harding: NHS Test & Trace & the TalkTalk Cyber Attack — Board Leadership in the Public Eye

136. Jock Lennox: How to be a listed Chair and get the most from audit committees

135. Dr. Margaret Heffernan (2/2): How boards make the best decisions: agendas, wilful blindness and super chickens

134. Dr. Margaret Heffernan (1/2): How boards make the best decisions: cooling-off periods, embracing uncertainty and deep hanging out

133. Peter Clark: 200 years’ growth - inside the Clarks’ family business

132. Carl-Peter Forster: Forget Governance. Great Boards Focus on Strategy, People, and Execution.

131. Laurence Garrett: Featurespace - the board’s role in growth, pricing, US expansion and sale to Visa

130. Ian Phillips: How to be a great GoaT (Governor or a Trustee)

129. Karen Blackett CBE: The board’s role in transformation

128. Yvonne Bajela: Founder breakups, deciphering moats, and the new role of governance

127. Rita Clifton CBE: What boards get wrong about brand

126. Fred Destin: How start-up boards create & destroy value (and whether we should be thinking about value at all)

125. Elena Lytkina Botelho: The CEO Next Door: Why Boards Get CEO Succession Wrong—and how to get it right

124. Malcolm John: How to get board roles and what boards get wrong about racial diversity

123. Christian Unger: Why experts beat generalists on investor-backed boards

122. Dorothy Burwell: Communications in the boardroom - exerting non-exec influence and building trust with management teams

121. Lisa Gordon: UK capital markets reforms - how should boards respond?

120. Tim Jackson: Coaching CEOs: how Chairs, NEDs and Investor Directors add most value to their most senior executive

119. Jurga Zilinskiene MBE: Building scale-up boards

118. Gerry Murphy, Tesco & Burberry Chair - How boards add strategic value

117. Cindy Rampersaud: How to excel as a trustee and transition to paid board roles

116.  Kate Swann: How board members and chairs add most value to CEOs

115. Annemarie Durbin: Chairing building societies & why coaching makes you a better chair

114. Richard Meddings CBE: Chairing NHS England

113.  Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic: Why do incompetent men become leaders?

112. Rain Newton-Smith, CBI CEO - How CEOs get most value from their boards

111. John Allan CBE: Chairing listed boards: crises and turnarounds

110. Pamela Dow - D&I in the boardroom

109. Professor Stanislav Shekshnia - How to be a good board Chair

108. Angela Seymour-Jackson - horizontal board careers, AI and CEO succession

107. Nadhim Zahawi, former Chancellor of the Exchequer - How government and business should leverage non-exec expertise

106. Tamara Box - Advisory & professional services boards

105. Eamon Devlin - Board meetings as half-time team talks: boardroom lessons from elite sport

104. Nuala Walsh - Key biases board members need to know to increase influence and reduce decision risk

103. Gerry Brown - Disaster in the boardroom: 6 board dysfunctions you need on your risk register

102. Dr. Douglas Gurr, ex Amazon China President - How boards add most value to CEOs: forecasting, challenge, ways of working, the environment and AI

101. Christmas Bonus: Dr. Ali Parsa - The rise and fall of Babylon Health

100. Professor Amy C. Edmondson - Psychological safety: how boards have the best conversations to make the best decisions

99. Sara Weller CBE - Building a plural career across the private and public sectors, representing customers and disability in the boardroom

98. Jenny Knott - Compensation, breaking into new sectors and adding value as a board member

97. Professor Renée Adams - 6 myths about female board members

96. Edwina Dunn OBE - how the board added value to dunnhumby, the company behind Tesco’s clubcard

95. Nick Jenkins - How NEDs add value to high-growth businesses: the board’s role in Moonpig’s success

94. Dame Alison Carnwath - Breaking into new sectors, setting remuneration and managing crises in the boardroom

93. Joy Harcup & Dame Una O’Brien - The art & psychology of board relationships

92. Professor Lynda Gratton - How boards can help redesign work

91. Lord Mervyn Davies - Navigating crises in the boardroom

90. Vicky Gosling OBE - Sport Boards

89. Mary Ann Sieghart - How women are taken less seriously than men, and what boards can do about it

88. Cedi Frederick - Building a board portfolio: housing association & NHS trust boards

87. Isabel Fernandez-Mateo - Rejections & professional relationships in the boardroom

86. Dan Gardner (part two) - how boards get big things done

85. Dan Gardner (part one) - superforecasting and fat tail risks

84. Sir Nigel Rudd - A Chairman’s Tale

83. Lucy Walker - Chairing investment trusts & building a non-exec portfolio

82. Suranga Chandratillake - Startup boards and investor directors

81. Rebecca Robins - Next Generation Boards

80. Evan Epstein - Governance disasters: cautionary tales from Silicon Valley’s boards

79. Priya Guha MBE - Board opportunities: a comparison of listed, government, start-up, charity and advisory board roles

78. Jim Strang, HgCapital Trust Chair - Investment Trust Boards: managers, risk, valuations & discounts

77. Dr Geoff Smart, ghSMART Founder - How to hire board members and CEOs

76. Paul Pester - Hard & soft impact: economics, culture and detail in the boardroom

75. Shuo Chen - Boards and the future: going plural, encouraging innovation, adding value to entrepreneurs, and preparing for the future of work

74. Dominic Joseph - Boards for founders: how boards add the most value to high-growth companies

73. Anne de Kerckhove - Technology boards: growth, nominations, the role of the SID and getting board roles

72. Lord Charles Allen - The Chair-CEO dynamic: the most important relationship in the boardroom

71. John Maltby - Chairing: getting the role, performing, and hiring your successor

70. Dawn Marriott - Chairing high-growth companies: getting the best from CEOs, investor-directors and NEDs

69. Alexander Denny, AIC Committee Chair - Investment trust boards: managing managers, defining moats, addressing discounts, and building a plural career

68. Baroness Helena Morrissey - Taking a stand: how board members can challenge successfully

67. Alex Edmans - Lies in the boardroom: the stories, studies and statistics that mislead boards

66. Sir Richard Dearlove, former Mi6 Chief - Intelligence: managing information, experts and the court of public opinion in the boardroom

65. Stuart Roden - Investors in the boardroom: getting the right CEO, capital allocation, and adding value as former investors

64. Baroness Dambisa Moyo - Boardroom surprises: black swans, dual-track strategising and marketing yourself as an unconventional board member

63. Roger Martin - Board failure (2/2): the board’s role in assessing and communicating strategy and hiring strategically-minded non-execs

62. Roger Martin - Board failure (1/2): why boards are worst when they need to be best, where they still add value, and the lost art of strategy

61. Cathy Turner - Building a plural board career: how to network effectively, develop expertise spikes, overcome uncertainty and position yourself as a candidate

60. Dr Sabine Dembkowski - Board reviews: how to make board effectiveness reviews effective

59. Anand Aithal, Cabinet Office Lead Non-Exec - Building a board portfolio: listed, government and charity boards

58. Andrew Tyler, portfolio PE Chair - Becoming the Chair (III): getting the role, developing through self-assessment and operating in complex stakeholder environments

57. Jennifer Sundberg - Collective intelligence: the remits, thinking and communication styles that define the most valuable boards

56. Sir Nicholas Coleridge CBE DL- Managing change: how boards can steer institutions through ups and downs

55. Wais Shaifta - CEOs: how the best boards and advisors add value to their most senior executive

54. Ann Francke OBE - Management: how boards can quantify the value of better leadership, work with mercurial CEOs and balance managerial and technical competence

53. Hamilton Helmer - Strategy: how boards can use the “7 Powers” to sustain performance in the face of competition

52. Sarah Flannigan - Trustee to NED to Chair: creating a board profile, transitioning to paid roles and building a value-driven portfolio career as a NED and Chair

51. Martin Gilbert, Aberdeen Asset Management Co-Founder - Support (& challenge): how the best boards embrace mistakes, look to the future, and support fund managers and CEOs

50. Professor Andrew Kakabadse - Control, service and strategy: why boards are more important than ever, and how they need to change to add value

49. Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia - From seed to public: the board’s role in two entrepreneurial success stories

48. Matthew Newcombe-Ellis Becoming a Chair (II): assessing the role, working with passion, structuring meetings and fundraising

47. Roger Parry - Becoming the Chair (I): preparing for the role, managing stakeholders, developing strategy and hiring the right NEDs

46. Dr Shefaly Yogendra - Decision-making: how boards make good decisions (and avoid bad ones)

45. Shellye Archambeau, Fortune 500 Committee Chair - Building a board portfolio: how to get board roles, develop non-exec skills, construct a portfolio and manage impostor syndrome

44. Daniel Kasmir - People & talent: the role of Remcos, and how board members can help measure and engage employees in a digital age

43. Clarissa Farr, former St Paul's Girl's High Mistress - High-performance: the key characteristics of highly successful boards

42. Marta Krupinska - Founders: how boards can help them, and how they can help boards

41. Rory Campbell - Difficult conversations: how, why and where boards should have them

40. Jane Routledge - Getting board roles: when to make the non-exec leap, how to position yourself as a candidate, and your first 90 days

39. Mads Jensen - Startup boards: finding the right non-execs, sticking to strategy, building trust with founders and working with AI

38. Sam Smith - Growth-mindsets: how boards and culture help companies scale

37. John Fallon, Former Pearson CEO - Digital transformation: navigating adversity and disruption

36. Peju Adebajo - Inclusion: embracing diversity, finding your voice and adding value to CEOs

35. Dimitri Chichlo - Cybersecurity: lessons from the War in Ukraine

34. Mark Roberge - Scaling: the science of growth

33. Mike Reid, Frog Capital Founder - Scaling success: how high-value chairs help scale-ups grow

32. Jen Baxter - Career building and metrics for success on education boards

31. Navid Nazemian PCC - Mastering CEO and board transitions

30. Malcolm Groat, AIM Chair - Chairing high-risk, high-growth boards

29. Nina Spencer - How to measure, practice and capitalise on ESG

28. Jeremy Asher - Good Governance on a Shoestring

27. Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne, Genius Foods Founder - How board composition impacts value at the different stages of high-growth businesses

26. Gillian Wilmot - The qualities needed to chair listed, investor-backed and public sector boards

25. Nicolina Andall - How I Began My Boardroom Journey

24. Julius Weinberg, former Ofsted Chair - Lessons from a Career Building Education Boards

23. Jane Ide - Learning to Run Effective Trustee Boards

22. Janhavi Dadarkar - Governance is the Backbone of Performance

21. Bushra Ahmed - Why Charity Board Compositions Will Need to Evolve

20. Hema Patel - How Boards Accelerate Early-Stage Startups

19. Owen Eastwood - Belonging, Togetherness and Performance Beyond the Boardroom

18. Susannah Nicklin - Investing Time and Assessing Risk on Financial Services Boards

17. Anne-Marie Headley - How Boards Benefit from Non-Traditional Experts

16. Mary Curnock Cook CBE - Chairing Outcome-Focused Education Boards

15. Sir Donald Brydon CBE - How Seasoned Chairs Build Situational Boards

14. Richard Nourse - The Future of Renewable Energy in the Boardroom

13. David Sole - Forging Bonds Between Boards and CEOs

12. Patrick Dunne - Building Self-Aware, Purpose-Driven Boards to Reflect Stakeholder Perspectives

11. Lynne Weedall - Using Employee-Oriented Board Strategy to Drive Sustainable Growth

10. Sameer Rahman - How Boardroom Data Specialists Bring Transformational Change

9. Terri Duhon - Breaking Through Imposter Syndrome and into the Boardroom

8. Joanne Hindle - How Chairs Influence Board Dynamics

7. Vikas Shah - How Frameworks Create High Impact Boards

6. Neil Thompson - Evolving Board Dynamics in Growing Companies

5. Graham Hobson - How Entrepreneurs Become Board Leaders

4. Eric Collins - Board Leadership as an Investor Director

3. Meinhard Schmidt - How Hands-On Chairs Scale Start-Ups

2. Margaret O’Connor - Fine-Tuning Boards for Better Impact

1. Lucy Armstrong - Redefining Your Board Career