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Enter the Boardroom with Nurole
Enter the Boardroom with Nurole
Author: Nurole
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Enter the Boardroom lifts the veil on the secretive world of boards, giving you the information you need to get more board roles and become better board members. Join Nurole CEO Oliver Cummings as he sits down with the extraordinary people shaping today's and tomorrow's boardrooms.
165 Episodes
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Rachel Carrell is CEO of KoruKids, a UK-based childcare company which has delivered 4 million hours of childcare. Previously, she was CEO of DrThom. Listen to this episode to hear about: The most difficult board discussion Rachel has had (00:55) How to guide a founder without overstepping (03:35) Why sharing your experience is more valuable than giving advice (06:49) Three most significant boardroom moments from Rachel’s Koru Kids journey (09:16) The benefits of a PR crisis (11:36) Why emotio...
Adam Warby is Chair of Ocado Group and CEO Emeritus of Avanade. Previously, he was Chair of Heidrick & Struggles and Chair of Softwareone. Listen to this episode to understand Adam's thoughts on: When CEOs should hold their ground against the board (01:01) Lessons from coming in as the first CEO after the founder (04:54) When it’s time to refresh your company values (07:34) What boards get wrong about CEO succession (12:45) What comes after leading a 38,000-person business (16:47) Compens...
Sim Scavazza is NED at London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, Vice Chair of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Deputy Chair of the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West NH Integrated Care Board. Listen to this episode to hear about: Leading through a 50% cost reduction (01:05) The human side of cutting costs (03:36) Common mistakes when communicating redundancies (09:36) Creating shared culture after a merger (12:58) The importance of time discipline in high-press...
Neil Johnson OBE is Group Chair of QinetiQ. Formerly, he was CEO of the RAC, and began his career in the British Army. Listen to this episode to hear about: The three boardroom experiences that most shaped Neil as a board member (01:450) What trade union battles taught Neil about leadership under pressure (04:03) Bringing military command experience into the boardroom (09:47) Prioritising time with people on the ground over board papers (13:47) Firing the chair: inside the RAC boardroom crisi...
Maria Molland is former CEO and Board Member of Thinx, the feminine hygiene company, acquired by Kimberly Clark. She is an Executive in Residence at Frazier Healthcare Partners. Tune in to hear Maria's thoughts on: Her first days as CEO (01:15) Lessons from her 90-day plan as a new CEO (05:37) Making the case for HR investment early on (10:54) Where the board misallocated investment when scaling (16:35) A framework for deciding where to invest (20:09) The trade-offs of taking capital from a s...
Lubomila Jordanova is co-founder and CEO of Plan A, recently acquired by Diginex, Co-Founder of Greentech Alliance and Advisory Board Member at the European Investment Bank and Chloé. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: The best and worst moments that shaped Lubomila’s boardroom approach (03:00) How and when to create a board with complex stakeholders (04:44) How external board positions have helped Lubomila navigate her own board (11:27 The biggest challenges Lubomila has faced with her board (...
Sir Ian Cheshire is Chair of Land Securities Group and Spire Healthcare Group. Formerly, he was Group Chief Executive of Kingfisher plc and Chair of Channel 4, Barclays Bank UK and Debenhams. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: Top moments where Sir Ian’s seen boards add most value (01:57) How boards can prepare for crises (04:50) Two key ways boards should be engaging with AI (06:03) How Sir Ian’s boards are approaching geopolitical changes (11:34) How they’re assessing inflation risk (14:06) H...
Sir Ian Cheshire is Chair of Land Securities Group and Spire Healthcare Group. Formerly, he was Group Chief Executive of Kingfisher plc and Chair of Channel 4, Barclays Bank UK and Debenhams. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: The three most important interventions boards made to Sir Ian as an exec (01:28) The main difference between reporting to and sitting on a board (06:04) How CEOs and execs build better relationships with their boards (08:48) How they can make sure boards focus where...
Professor Malcolm Press CBE is Vice-Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University and President of Universities UK. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: The skills university boards need to add value (00:58) How boards can help timetable risk (04:09) What university boards can teach about managing multiple stakeholders (05:59) The three main issues university boards are facing today (10:23) Unlocking the financial conundrum universities face (14:22) When boards should collaborate rather than c...
David Sproul is Chair of Starling Bank and Chair of Pennon Group. Formerly, he was Deputy Global CEO of Deloitte UK. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: Deloitte UK expansion: the toughest conversations David had with his board (00:46) How to reframe board risk discussions positively (03:28) Balancing logos and pathos when influencing (06:13) Should CEOs come to the board focused on upside or downside? (08:58) How the board helped improve David’s thinking about Deloitte’s expansion (12:02) How t...
Amanda Mackenzie OBE is NED at British Land and at Lloyds Banking Group, where she chairs the Responsible Business Committee. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: Why Amanda first started non-exec roles (1:10) How she repositioned herself as a non-exec candidate (1:44) Crafting a compelling board CV (3:13) Why Amanda started with pro bono rather than paid roles (5:44) How she landed her first paid role (8:48) Networking hacks to build a plural career (9:56) How to identify and position yourself f...
Sir James Wates CBE is Chair of the Rugby Football Union and Vestey Holdings Ltd. Formerly, he was Chair of Wates Group. Tune in to hear his thoughts: Key board-level decisions that helped grow Wates from 950m to 2bn revenues (02:20) How the board weighed the risks and benefits of increasing average transaction value (05:08) Key decisions the board used to assess risk (08:00) How the board decided when to quit and when to stick (10:03) CEO appointments: what’s worked and what hasn’t (14:02) B...
Phil Walker CBE is Chair of Council at the University of Roehampton and member of the England & Wales Cricket Board. Formerly, he was COO at Capgemini. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: Phil’s journey into the boardroom (02:02) How university governance differs from corporate (03:15) Key stakeholders for higher education boards (04:23) Heuristics Phil uses to understand university boards (05:30) Key data points every education board should look at (07:45) Three defining moments that most s...
Rupert Soames OBE is Chair of the CBI and Smith & Nephew plc and former CEO of Serco Group plc and Aggreko plc. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: Key moments from Rupert’s time as CEO that shape how he Chairs (1:33) Lessons from Aggreko’s acquisition of GE’s energy rental business (3:42) Was there anything a board could have done to mitigate Rupert’s disagreement with the Misys CEO when he was a divisional manager? (5:33) When chairs added most value to Rupert as CEO (9:35) How Phili...
Natasha Frangos is Managing Partner of HaysMac. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: Key moments in HaysMac’s growth (1:50) What board members can do when they feel too many people are having a say in decision-making (7:39) How boards needed to communicate when overseeing change (10:02) The respective roles of management and the board in developing and communicating strategy (11:17) How boards ensure they have internal candidates for CEO succession (16:58) Tash’s hardest challenges stepping up to...
Sir Douglas Flint CBE is chair of Aberdeen, IP Group and the Royal Marsden NHS Trust and former chair of HSBC Group Holdings and NED at BP. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: The most valuable lessons Sir Douglas has learnt from the chairs he’s worked with (2:07) How chairs build consensus - the example of BP Chair Peter Sutherland (4:45) How to handle a split board (7:26) Lessons from the boardroom in the BP Macondo crisis (13:11) What the crisis teaches board members about risk (20:37) What i...
Mark Winlow is Chair of several financial services companies, including Aon UK and Redwood Bank. Formerly, he was Audit Chair at Starling Bank and NED at Tesco Underwriting, AIG Life Ltd, and others. Tune in to hear his thoughts on: Three examples where insurance boards have changed the trajectory of their businesses (2:18) Non-execs transitioning to CEO (5:19) Mark’s heuristics for understanding insurance businesses (8:02) Three things every board member needs to understand to add value (12:...
Professor Atewologun is the former Dean of the Rhodes Scholarship at the University of Oxford and is currently the Founder and CEO of Delta, Advisor to the board of the Tearfund and Trustee at the Old Fire Station. In this conversation, we cover: What did the Parker review get right and where did it go wrong? (01:47) Is there a relationship between diversity and performance? (5:39) The difference between equity and equality, and when it’s right to pursue one versus the other (09:50) Should bo...
Tessa Clarke is co-founder and CEO of Olio, which has over 8.5 million users, across 65+ countries, who have together shared over 125 million meals and 15 million household items. Tessa is a member of the Small Business Growth Forum, Advisory Board Member at Stop Ecocide International and Venture Partner at Mustard Seed MAZE. Listen to hear her thoughts on: The Olio story (02:08) The three moments the board added most value (3:19) The hardest moments in the journey (4:23) Where bo...
Dame Marie Gabriel CBE is Chair of the NHS Race and Health Observatory and NHS North East London Integrated Care Board and former Chair of NHS Improvement’s London Regional Board. Tune in to hear her thoughts on: Creating a positive culture in board meetings open to the public (2:11) Laptops in meetings (4:23) Creating a sense of psychological safety and humanity in board meetings (5:52) Marie’s unique way of compiling board agendas (7:43) Using temporary committees to bridge the gap between ...



