Conversations count, inside and outside the boardroom. Our speakers at this special event have identified 18 crucial conversations that all NEDs must have with their boards.
These conversations form the framework for new book, ‘Board Talk’. We will be joined by the authors Kathryn Bishop and Gillian Camm who share practical insights from their own experience as board members alongside combining the latest research findings with various real life and fascinating case studies.
At this event Gillian and Kathryn will share how conversations are key to addressing fundamental boardroom challenges, such information asymmetry, strategic alignment and stakeholder reputation. Participants will be invited to pool and share their experience, alongside the techniques outlined in the book, on how to conduct conversations effectively to ensure good governance.
Find out more about the ‘Board Talk’ book here.
Towards the end of the session we will leave time for attendees to ask questions and discuss their own situation under the Chatham House rule.
Speakers
Kathryn Bishop and Gillian Camm have each spent decades in boardrooms in private-sector companies, public bodies, charities, and schools, working with boards as Chair, Senior Independent Director, non-executive, or executive member. Their focus on making boards more effective blends this real-life practical experience with their research and teaching.
Kathryn Bishop
Kathryn is an Associate Fellow at the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, where she teaches and works with boards of global organizations. She combines her teaching with practical experience working in organizations. She has served on boards in England and Wales in the public, private and charity sectors,
including as the first Chair of the Welsh Revenue Authority, set up to raise revenue in Wales for the first time in 800 years. Her first book, Make Your Own Map, about women’s working lives, was published in 2021, and she received a CBE in the 2021 Birthday Honours list for services to diversity and public administration. Her website
sets out her other publications and videos as well as her blog (www.kathryn-bishop.com).
Gillian Camm
Gillian runs her own executive coaching and consultancy business, drawing on her extensive experience on boards in the private and public sector, including roles as the senior independent director at Wessex Water, a main board director at Clerical Medical Investment Group, and a world-wide partner of the Hay Group. She was a
member of the General Medical Council (GMC) and as the first lay Chair of the Fitness to Practise Committee. She has also served as Chair of the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education and as Chair of the Board of Governors of the University of the West of England. In these roles, she has been actively involved in working with investors, regulators, and consumer groups, and in reviewing and re-developing systems of governance. For example, she led a review of governance of the GMC following the Shipman Inquiry and of university governance in Wales culminating in the publication of the Camm Review in 2019. She has also written for the Journal of General Management and the Financial Times.
This event is included in our Directors’ Circle membership. Current Directors’ Circle members have received a calendar invitation already – if you haven’t, please get in touch with Julia via contact@wbdirectors.co.uk
Please note: Our Directors’ Circle events are fast-paced conversations, designed for those with experience of serving as a non-executive director and/or a strong understanding of the role. Full members with this background are also welcome to attend.