My thoughts on the IoD Professional Development Series...

Last week I attended the Institute of Director’s ‘Professional Development Series’ in Manchester. To be honest I went in with some scepticism over how much value I’d take away having been on similar courses in the past with other providers and not necessarily ‘feeling it’, but I was really impressed with the way the tutor (Jean Pousson) managed to focus on long-term improvement strategies AND immediate-term tactics for quick wins in the business.

The morning session covered ‘Strategic Decision Making’ and ‘Boardroom Dynamics’ followed by ‘Practical Tips for Becoming a NED’ in the afternoon. Now ok, not all of this was new ground, but I was quite taken by the number of useful ‘nuggets’ I came away with. Here’s a few…

Strategic Decision Making:When developing a strategy, there’s always more than one way to skin a cat. Jean gave the example of two arguing leaders he’d worked with in a previous company, one who’d been a CFO in a major global FMCG business who’d risen to the top by creating highly-effective corporate structures around him and developing really effective scalable processes, the other a self-made entrepreneur who’d grown a business by leveraging his innate creativity and drive and by trusting his intuition, both with opposing views of how to move the business forward. Both presented utterly different solutions and both could have worked or failed. In the end it wasn’t the strategy that made the difference, but the ability of the team to reach consensus that worked for everyone and their ability to implement the strategy effectively. The important bit I took from it was ‘develop questions to create rigorous testing of your strategy!’. Jean went on to describe how one business he’d worked with had employed a ‘Chief Sarcastic Officer’ with a brief of ‘bringing the business to it’s knees’. In other words, really research the threats to your strategy, expose frailties and understand the dangers so you can mitigate threats before they happen. We’re right in the midst of developing some really exciting plans for the future of our executive search business and this advice will be invaluable as we move forward over the coming weeks.

Boardroom Dynamics:This was a really interesting session delivered with some very serious messages but with a light-hearted delivery made all the more interesting through Jean’s anecdotes of big global businesses. Opening with the point that ‘org charts tell you the structure, but they DON’T tell you who’s got the power in the boardroom’, Jean covered the role of the Chair and their influence in achieving an effective board meeting, the importance of ‘avoiding omerta’ and including a strategic element in every board meeting. It was interesting hearing the other delegates’ experiences of the boardroom, some good, some bad, some downright hilarious!

Practical Tips for Becoming a NED:As someone who spends his life talking to senior executives about career aspirations, I can say that the rise of the portfolio director in recent years has been prolific and whilst the vision of an easy life balancing a couple of NED roles operating as the ‘care-free’, ‘unrestricted’, ‘unaccountable’ advisor might sound appealing, the reality is that NED’s carry the same legal responsibilities as executive directors and the roles can be equally as challenging despite the time commitment. The course began by addressing the importance of carrying out proper due-diligence before accepting a NED assignment (just as it is with an exec appointment) and gave practical suggestions of how this might be done to avoid engaging with ‘the wrong’ company. The need for NEDs to remain strategic and avoid getting sucked into the muck and bullets of operations was emphasised, as was their obligation to understand a directors’ legal responsibilities (note the word ‘directors’ - it doesn’t matter whether you’re an exec or non-exec director, the legal obligations are the same). Finally we spent some time discussing how to write a good NED CV, familiar ground for me but not for all in the room so valuable nevertheless. I’d have liked some discussion around the actual steps aspiring NEDs can take to find NED opportunities as this is something I’m asked about a lot and I know many NEDs struggle to find the ‘right’ NED role, often settling for a less than optimal fit. If anyone wants to chat on this front by the way I’m very happy to advise as sadly it’s not just as simple as registering a CV with executive search consultants, but there are some useful pointers I’ve learned over the years which I’m very happy to share. An excellent session non-the-less.

I’m excited to see how the learnings from last week shape some of my decisions over the next 12 months. It’s a really exciting time of growth for Sherrington and I’m pleased with how the IoD’s Professional Development Series has already helped me shape my thinking on some fairly major decisions. 

IoD Cheshire will be running the Professional Development Series here in Chester next June and I strongly encourage anyone who’s interested in improving their thinking on any of these areas to attend. Feel free to contact me directly or talk to Ian Traynor our IoD Cheshire Ambassador for Professional Development.

Rob McKay - MD, Sherrington Associates, Chair, IoD Cheshire