John F. Kennedy

"When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.”

The level of scrutiny and expectations placed on Boards by shareholders and external commentators are higher than they have ever been.

We work with our clients to identify and place Chairs and  non- executive directors as part of their overall people and business strategy. We work with the Board to assess the Board’s performance against the relevant corporate guidelines, governance, the performance and ambitions of the organisation and the level of alignment.

When working on Chairman succession, we focus on ensuring alignment around the key business challenges, expectations of the Chairman’s role and time commitment, and the credentials and capabilities that are required. We then work confidentially to identify and assess potential candidates and help our clients to manage the critical process of selecting the right successor, whether from the existing Board or from outside.

Characteristics of the Chairman are key and can include: combining outstanding business judgement with a high degree of emotional intelligence, sophisticated team leadership skills, calmness under fire and the integrity to put company first before self.

Non-Executive Directors are members of a team, and we encourage our clients to consider individual appointments as part of an overall succession planning process. We work with clients to examine the strategic needs of the business and how the Board will add value, by defining the collective capabilities the Board needs and the current or potential gaps that need to be filled. We then write a brief for the new Non-Executive Director, and this determines the nature of the profiles that we explore.

We pay particular attention to the need for appropriate diversity – whether gender, nationality or experience. In our assessment of candidates through interviewing and referencing we look for capability and character and assess the personal attributes of non-executive director candidates to ensure they will provide the right balance of support and inspiration but also rigour and challenge.

We have acted at board level for many of the ASX Top 50 and a significant percentage of the ASX 200. In addition we have found non-executive directors for international companies as well as a range of mid-cap, private and not-for profit organisations.