In this podcast we are talking to Sharon Constancon, CEO of Genius Boards, about leadership in the boardroom.

easyJet plc’s company secretariat team has been named ‘Team of the Year’ at The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland’s 2021 Awards, after helping the Luton-based company to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and emerge well-positioned to benefit from the post-pandemic recovery. The Awards, which were hosted by BBC Breakfast presenter and Strictly Come Dancing contestant Dan Walker at the London Park Lane Hilton Hotel last night, recognise those individuals and teams who have excelled in good governance, helping their organisations to better serve their stakeholders and local communities in the process.

The question arises once again of the strange blindness of some of those in public office to the recognition and disclosure of actual or potential conflicts of interest.

ICSA: The Chartered Governance Institute has today announced the full line-up of speakers for its 2020 Governance Guernsey conference, which is taking place on 21 October, one of the few live conferences taking place in the British Isles, thanks to strong management of COVID by Guernsey’s government.

East Midlands branch past events

In this podcast Kerry Round, Founding Director of Round Governance Services, outlines how the governance of a company will change following an Initial Public Offering (IPO). She covers board structure, responsibilities, composition, and the need for board diversity. The discussion outlines how an IPO will affect important stakeholders such as employees, the policies the company will need to have in place, what disclosures will be required, and which external bodies the company secretary or governance professional will find themselves dealing with on a regular basis. Kerry describes an IPO as a career highlight and the role of the company secretary or governance professional in a listed company as fabulous.

In this podcast Sharon Constançon, CEO of Genius Boards, offers advice for company secretaries and governance professionals on managing the challenges they face in their role, from gaining feedback and stretching themselves to learning tactics to avoid becoming overwhelmed. Sharon advises compartmentalising the noise of the role to gain control of it. She describes how to handle the inevitable left hook and the value of being the trusted expert who absorbs panic rather than creating it. Sharon highlights the power of conversation initiated by the governance professional to fix a broken relationship, as well as discussing how to own up to a mistake and how to avoid being seen as a ‘blocker’.

In this podcast, James Beasley, Senior Director at Nasdaq Governance Solutions, discusses how organisations and boards can evolve their risk management practices in response to a changing risk landscape. James outlines how non-financial risks are becoming more prominent and discusses the challenges in managing these less tangible, more complex risks. He argues that their universal nature means that organisations can no longer afford to forgo risk oversight and governance. James describes how many organisations are innovating to ensure they are equipped to manage what is becoming an increasingly complex space.

The Chartered Governance Institute, UK & Ireland, has responded to the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) consultation on the review of the UK Corporate Governance Code (the Code) to urge it to protect the huge benefits of the strong governance environment in the UK, balancing the desire to improve the Code against the proportionality of any additional reporting.