Post by Dinsdale Bowen-Wright

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱. That was one of the strongest reminders from yesterday’s 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺: 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 & 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲. The content mattered. But once again, the real value was the room. People spoke openly, listened properly and were willing to sit with uncomfortable questions about judgement, challenge, culture and decision-making. Dr. Tosin Bowen-Wright took us beneath the surface of formal reporting and into the human dynamics that shape what boards see, what they miss and what executives feel able to disclose. She challenged us to think more carefully about 𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿, 𝗽𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆, 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗡𝗘𝗗𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆. Nuno Soares gave the room something many senior people rarely get: 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻. Through his Life by Design work, he guided us through 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲𝘀, 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀, 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀, 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 and what we want the next 12 months to be shaped by. It was practical, honest and quietly challenging. Mary Campbell OBE brought the boardroom reality check. Direct, experienced and deeply practical, she spoke about behaviours, accountability, systems, process, curiosity and the responsibility of NEDs to keep asking questions when something does not feel right. A line that stayed with me was the 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱. That is where many risks begin. Yesterday reminded me that good governance is not just about process. It is about judgement. It is about courage. It is about curiosity. And it is about creating the conditions where the truth has a better chance of being heard. Thank you to Tosin, Nuno, Mary, Nzube Ufodike, Tkeyah-Renee H. and the Institute of Directors (IoD) team, Searcys and Ama Ocansey CDir, Francesca Zuddas, Jual Ahmed, Kate Muir OBE, Lana Jezrawi- Boisbluche, Marcella McLean, Nilesh Prag, Oliver Bell, Per Rehné and Ventzislava Nikita Tzatcheva, B.A. who helped create such a thoughtful, open and high-quality discussion. These are the conversations I believe more boardrooms need. #IoDEmergingNEDs #IoD #Governance #BoardLeadership #NED #CorporateGovernance #Boardroom #DecisionMaking