As we enter into proxy season for corporations around the world, one of the key questions for boards and CEOs to answer is why executive pay seems so out of line with what inherently seems justified. Recent headlines have brought us news that Citigroup lost an advisory “say on pay” vote, that BP executives are […]

Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height....

As board members we are living in interesting times. For years, we have conducted our business in a black box well away from public scrutiny. Now a hot light is shining upon us and it makes for deeply uncomfortable viewing for both directors and those outside the boardroom. From Yahoo we get descriptions of a […]

We return to boardrooms after a summer of extreme upheaval that looks set to continue into the autumn. There is a palpable sense of systemic instability in the face of political, economic, technological, social, and indeed meteorological uncertainty. From News Corp. to the revolution in Libya, from the continuing economic upheaval to Steve Jobs announcing […]

Board members need to understand the factors that impact their businesses. Economics, politics, and sector shifts are all vital issues on the agenda in the boardroom. But the agenda needs to keep pace with what is influencing business, and amongst the things that board members need to fully appreciate is the growing influence and power […]

News Corp. independent board member Thomas Perkins (79), a director since 1996, said this on July 18: “I have a lot of faith in Rupert Murdoch. He’s a great guy, he’s a friend of mine. He’s a genius. And I know he’s devastated by this. Just devastated. And I worry about him, you know, physically, […]

A good board can be rocket fuel or it can be rocks in an organization’s pockets. Much of success and failure in the boardroom comes down to the way the individuals around the table — be it on a public company board, a small private board, or a non-profit board — do their jobs. So […]

“We have a dysfunctional corporate governance system in the United States and nobody can attack it and nobody can do anything about it because it’s like the feudal system.” That’s Carl Icahn, in a fascinating interview with Reuters BreakingViews (thanks to Jeff Glekin and Lucy Marcus for pointing me to it). “It’s like a totalitarian […]