LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS

For the next three weeks, Criticaleye will be exploring different elements of board structure. In our High Performing Board Series, we will be looking at three key areas: board diversity; aligning board composition to a changing strategy and board appraisals.

Boards are the anchor of the business strategically and ethically. Getting the right board can be difficult yet it is the key to drive business forward. This week we are exploring board appraisals – their importance and who should be tasked with appraising them.

A good business strategy is essential to drive a business forward. The organisations that have survived the past 18 months, have come out battered and are now, or should be, examining their strategies to take on the next stage.

“The recession is over and now can we get back to normal, and return to where we were before we were so rudely interrupted? Meanwhile, we know that the impact of the near collapse of financial markets is far from over and that the cost and availability of funding, while improving, has not and will not return to those of the ‘good old days’.

Criticaleye, in association with Accenture, developed a series of films interviewing business leaders about their approach to the multi-polar world – a world where wealth and power is more evenly distributed between developed and developing countries with the global economic dominance of the United States, Europe and Japan waning.

As part of this series, we interviewed 16 CEOs and chairmen from FTSE 100 companies, SMEs and public sector businesses to see how they are dealing with the threats and opportunities of increased globalisation. The eye to eye films feature interviews with Stephen Catling, CEO, ABF Ingredients, Martin Graham, former Director of Equity Markets, London Stock Exchange and Darryl Eales, CEO, Lloyds TSB Development Capital (LDC) in addition to those quoted below.

The adage ‘it is lonely at the top’, although often overused, proves too true for many business leaders. Once at the top few people truly can be used as a sounding board. Being appointed CEO means taking on the public persona of the organisation and, as we have seen recently, becoming the public whipping boy when things go wrong. All this comes with immense pressure.  

However, not everyone can become a CEO - it takes a fair amount of hard work, initiative and a good amount of luck. Criticaleye partnered with Penna, the leading global management consultancy, to research, interview and film experienced CEOs about their aspirations to become a CEO and what the position is really like.