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    Too many irons in the fire?

    Chairman Corporate Governance Effectiveness Governance Integrity Research Time Management

    Periodically I hear directors introduce themselves with "I'm a professional director". Sometimes, they add "I sit on NN Bboards", where NN could be as high as eight or even ten (boards). Wow. Presumably this means all of their income comes from director fees, and somehow more Boards is better or more prestigious. Am I impressed? Not really.

    The core role of any director is to maximise the performance of the company they serve. But how can they do this effectively if they spread their time across as many as eight or ten boards? Ten boards means a maximum of two days per company each month. In this scenario, how can any director possibly understand the issues and strategic options sufficiently well to contribute effectively around the board table? 

    Governing a company is demanding. It takes time to understand the issues. Can a director have too many irons in the fire? The stories starting to emerge in the media suggest the answer is a clear "yes".

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    What defines you? Are you a successaholic?

    Accountability Complexity Effectiveness Integrity Time Management

    We live in a busy world. Most of us have a lot going on in our lives, particularly our work lives. Daily, we seem to have more to see and more to do. And through our wireless devices, we are "always on" and constantly checking in—even when we are not at work. Superficially, this commitment to cause sounds good. But is it as good as we think?

    As life speeds by, we are all at risk of  being swept along with it. But an excessive focus on work and success can lead to significant compromises in other areas, particularly in our personal lives. And that can be unhealthy.

    Leslie Perlow, Harvard Professor and author of Sleeping with your Smartphone, recently wrote a great article on how to overcome this addiction to success which is played out through our mobile devices. She offers some practical tips that will enable you to devote more time to your personal life and become more productive in your work life. I commend this article to you. It'll only take 5 minutes to read. If you are game enough to try Leslie's suggestions, I'd love to hear how you get on—and I'm sure she would be as well!

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    Gender diversity disclosures...on what basis?

    Complexity Diversity Effectiveness Governance Performance

    The discussion about gender diversity disclosures this week piqued my interest.

    Are these calls for gender and age disclosures simply representative of societal pressures towards inclusiveness, or are they because increased gender and age diversity is linked to increased company performance?

    Researchers have been studying the supposed link between board composition factors and company performance for many years. To date, their findings are inconclusive. Gender diversity does, however, seem to lead to more civilised debate in the boardroom, higher accountabilities and better attendance. So, there appears to be goodness in diversity. However, we must to be careful not to confuse these inputs and activity with the desired output of increased company performance.

    New Zealand was first to give women the vote, and that was good for society. Moving towards diversity in the boardroom may also be good for society. However, we don't know that yet. 

    I applaud any move towards increased transparency and disclosure, particularly for listed companies. However, if the motivation is to move down a diversity pathway for which no solid evidence linking increased diversity to company performance is available, are we not on dangerous ground?