Better Boards Podcast Series

A new episode goes live every 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month

Listen to the thoughts, views and opinions from renowned, world-class business leaders and academics

Dr Sabine Dembkowski talks with some of the most respected and award-winning FTSE Chairs, Senior Independent Directors, Chief Executive Officers, Non-Executive Directors, Company Secretaries, selected trusted advisors, and world-class academics from leading universities like Harvard, Oxford, and Cambridge.

Passionate about creating better boards, they discuss timely topics that rank high on the agenda of boards.

In each podcast, these world-class contributors provide powerful insights and practical tips that contribute to the dialogue in the community and the creation of better boards.

New episodes are available every 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month.

The Better Boards Podcast has been named as one of the Top 10 corporate governance podcasts by Feedspot.

Our latest episode

New episodes are available every 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month.

Tech Boards – What matters to investors

Irene Arias Hofman, CEO of IDB Lab

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Complete series

We published so far over 100 episodes. You can search by categories for the episodes. The categories are

Insights into the German Corporate Governance Debate – learnings, changes and Implications for Directors

Dr Cordula Heldt, Head of Corporate Governance and Company Law, German Share Institute & Head of Secretariat, Commission German Corporate Governance Code

Is Diversity, Equity and Inclusion bad for business

Associate Prof. Grace Lordan, London School of Economics and Political Science

Mastering Internal Board Evaluations

Chloe Barry Group Company Secretary, Kingfisher

How to get creativity and innovation into the boardroom

Sir John Tusa

AI and Advanced Analytics – delivering value for directors and the board

Prof Bernardo Almada-Lobo, University of Porto & LTPlabs

The Death of the ESG Committee

Vicky Moffatt, CEO Chapter Zero

A Mastering the Company Secretariat

Jason Wright, Society Secretary Nationwide

A balancing act: where should EMEIA boards focus for long-term success?

Andrew Hobbs, EY's Center for Board Matters across Europe, the Middle East, India, and Africa (EMEIA)

Increasing productivity through inclusion

Belton Flournoy, Managing Director of Protiviti

Experience of working with a board as a first-time CEO

Daphne Mavroudi-Chocholi, Managing Director of RNIB Enterprises

How can boards convert sustainability from a wish to a winning reality?

Andrew Hobbs, EY's Center for Board Matters across Europe, the Middle East, India, and Africa (EMEIA)

U.S. and U.K. – Two countries separated by common corporate governance practices?

Susan Skeritt, Non-Executive Director

What do board members need to think about to avoid being sued by the climate movement?

Donald Pols, Director of Friends of the Earth

Behind close doors of tech start-up Boards

Yael Benjamin, Founder/CEO of research firm start-up Snapshot
Tzahi (Zack) Weisfeld, Vice-President and General Manager of Intel Ignite

Can accounting save the world and your company?

Mike Mahoney, CEO of E-liability Institute

AI – What questions do Directors need to ask?

Professor Joe Fuller, Harvard Business School

Leading an Effective Board

Andreas E.F. Utermann, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vontobel Holding AG.

Why Story Telling is Mission Critical for Boards

Jyoti Guptara.

Executive Compensation: Striking The Right Balance Between Executives and Stakeholders

Paul Norris, Senior Partner of MM&K Limited.

The Inspiring Life of a Director

Paul Halpin, Multi-sector NED, SID, and Chair.

On being an effective Non-Executive Director

Marianne Loner, Non-Executive Director.

The Board as a Team

Petri Hofste, Non Executive Director.

The Retention Factor: Why Boards Need to Prioritise LGBT+ Inclusion

Emma Codd, Global Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, Deloitte.

Governance – Are boards part of the problem or part of the solution?

Ralph Ward.

On making it in the boardroom

Imran Saleem, Partner, Middle East - Egon Zehnder.

Building a Successful Employee Engagement Process

Luise Hardy, Kevin Maguire - Crest Nicholson.

Managing Governance Risk

Liz Lynxwiler, Company Secretary at Brightwell Pensions.

Gender Equality in the Workplace Starts at the Top

Emma Codd, Global Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer, Deloitte.

AI – Rethinking business

Karen Silverman

How do boards preside wisely over transactions to avoid shareholder value destruction?

Dr Dean Blomson

The Role of the Next Generation on Boards of Family-Owned Enterprises

Martin Roll

On being an effective Director in family-owned enterprises

Martin Roll

The Role of Boards in Family-Owned Enterprises

Martin Roll

Governance challenges in Africa

Tinuade Awe, Chief Executive Officer of NGX Regulation Limited

On Building Inclusive and Equitable Cultures On Boards and throughout the organisation

Dr Doyin Atewologun

The essence of good governance

Dr Peter Crow

Governance – Wicked Challenges in Healthcare

Nabil Jamshed, Head of Corporate Governance at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

The power of trust – How can boards build it, lose it, and regain it

Prof Sandra Sucher, Harvard Business School

On Increasing the Quality of the Dialogue in the Boardroom

David Clutterbuck

Diversity & Inclusion – The Boards role as ‘agents of change’

Prof Randall Peterson, London Business School

Boards under pressure

Sir John Tusa

Boards – Geopolitical challenges & Diversity

Nassib Abou-Kahlil

On creating a digitally savvy board

Peter Weill, Senior Research Scientist at the MIT Sloan School of Management and Chairman Emeritus at MIT CISR

Future-proofing your board

Professor Didier Cossin, Professor at IMD Switzerland and the Founding Director of the IMD Global Board Centre

Is your board adapting to a dynamically changing risk environment?

Zahra Cassim, CEO of Corporate Secretaries Internation Association (CSIA)
David Samy, Consulting Partner at EY Hong Kong

Rethinking talent in the boardroom

Prof Joe Fuller, Professor at Harvard Business School

Establishing a global mindset in the boardroom

Thomas Kipp, CEO of Naquel Express

CEO Readiness

Dr Wayne B. Nelson, Strategy Consulting Leader EMEA at Monitor Deloitte and Head of the Deloitte Executive Leadership Institute.

The role of the board in defining the purpose of the organisation

Gill Meller, Legal & Governance Director of MTR Corporation.

The environment in the boardroom: On overcoming obstacles

Susan Hooper, Chair of Tangle Teezer, Chair Designate of Inter. Earth.

Digital know-how in the boardroom

Hassan el Bouhali, Head of Technology & Digital at Mastercard Foundation.

The board as an agent of change

Denis Woulfe, Co-Chair - board of 'Leaders As Change Agents' (LACA), Trustee at the RNLI.

From Executive to “Professional NED”

Ian Murray, Chair of Jupiter Mines Ltd, Matador Mining Ltd and Geopacific Resources Ltd.

Generation Z in the Boardroom

Hana Ben-Shabat, Founder of Gen Z Planet, Previous Partner and Board member - Kearney.

Why should boards care about supply chains?

Anahita Thoms, Head of International Trade Practice - Baker McKenzie.

Chairing the board of a Growth Business

Peter Herbert, Non-Executive Director Bank of Ireland (UK) Plc and Zopa Bank.

The status of ethnic diversity on FTSE Boards

David Taylor, Chair of the Parker Review

Board Evaluations – what does good really look like? Part II

Maureen Beresford, Head of Corporate Governance at the Financial Reporting Council (FRC)

Board Evaluations – what does good really look like? Part I

Marianne Beresford head of corporate governance at the financial reporting council.

Creating A Sustainability-Savvy Board

Trista Bridges, Founder of Read the Air.

Spreading good governance practice around the globe

Bode Ayeku, President of Corporate Secretaries International Association (CSIA).

Proactive Questions every board member should be asking

Dr Andrew White from SAID Business School in Oxford.

ESG – What should boards focus on

Anna-Marie Slot, Partner, Ashurst LLP

The changing role of CEOs and their relationship with their boards

Dr Kati Najipoor-Smith, Co-Leader Global CEO Practice, Egon Zehnder

Diversity & Inclusion – See differently.

David Clarke, Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB)

The digitisation of the board.

Maddie Scrafton, Computershare Governance Services

Responding to the ESG agenda – legal insights for boards.

Anna-Marie Slot, Will Chalk Partners at Ashurst LLP

Integrating different perspectives in the boardroom

Sir John Tusa, Chair British Architecture Trust, Former MD BBC World Service and Barbican Arts Centre

Transitioning from CEO to Chair

Steve Holliday, Chair Citifibre and Zenobe, President of the Energy Institute, Former CEO at National Grid

Changing the racial diversity on FTSE boards

Richard DeNetto, Associate Director CBI

Creating a high-performance culture in the boardroom

Ralph Schubert, Ralph Schubert | Senior Partner at Coverdale Team Management

Going beyond governance – The art of talking about what really matters

Jim Haudan, Co-founder and CEO of Root Inc now part of Accenture

The Alignment of Executives and Non-Executives in the Boardroom

Ken Schuetz, CEO and Founder of Aligned Influence Consulting

Hybrid working and controls – What should boards think about?

John Mongelard, Technical Manager - Risk & Regulation at ICAEW

Culture, it all starts in the boardroom

Mike Gahir, Chair of the Board of Trustee at Steps to Work

Putting the ‘S’ in ESG

Margot Slattery, Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion at ISS A/S

The role of the Company Secretary in major transactions

Nickesha Graham-Burrell, Head of Company Secretariat, OSB Group PLC

The role of the Company Secretary in increasing the effectiveness of Non-Executive Directors

John Mills, Company Secretary at Smiths Group PLC

Board Reporting – The indispensable part of effective boards

David Whincup, Deputy Company Secretary at Provident Financial Group

The role of the Company Secretary in creating future-fit boards

Loren Wulfsohn, Global Head of Policy and Stakeholder Engagement at HSBC Holdings PLC

Diversity and inclusion, insights from the U.K. and Mercedes-Benz AG

Sabine Kohleisen, Member of the Board of Management at Mercedes-Benz AG, and Denise Wilson | CEO of the Hampton-Alexander Review

Punks in the boardroom

Christopher Pirnie, Principal at Kuberno Consulting. Former Director of Governance Operations and Policy at Fidelity International

The relationship between the Chair and the CEO – How can you make it work?

Sir John Tusa, Chair British Architecture Trust, Former MD BBC World Service and Barbican Arts Centre

Building a culture of challenge

Professor Karthik Ramanna, Professor of Business & Public Policy at Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University

Board recruiting – The search for unicorns

Carol Leonard CEO and Angela Hocter | Head of Research at the Inzito Partnership

A pulse check on boards of VC-backed organisations in 2021

Alexander Leigh, Investment Manager at Development Bank of Wales

Creating effective boards – The 7-hallmarks of effective boards

Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Managing Partner at Better Boards

Alignment in the boardroom

Rich Berens, CEO, Author and President at Root Inc part of Accenture

Board performance & cognitive diversity in the boardroom

Stephen Page, Head of EMEA Board Engagement at NASDAQ

Politicians in the boardroom – can they add value or are they a nuisance?

Carwyn Jones, Former First Minster of Wales

Defining purpose and values in the boardroom

Alison Platt, Chair at LGFA at Legal & General and NED at Tesco PLC, Dechra PLC and Spectrum Life Healthcare

Integration – the elephant in the boardroom

Yetunde Hofmann, NED & Trustee

Finding your voice in the boardroom

Orna NiChionna, Chair National Trust, SID Saga PLC, NED Burberry PLC. Formerly McKinsey

Why does ethnic diversity matter in British boardrooms?

Joelle Warren, Founding Partner and Chair and Khurram Hussain Consultant Partner at Warren Partners

The role of the Chair in a successful merger

Philip Aiken, Chair at Aveva PLC and Balfour Beatty PLC

Resilience in the governance market

David Press, CEO at DMJ Recruitment

Managing Megaprojects

Professor Bent Flyvbjerg, SAID Business School

Addressing climate change as a Non-Executive Director

Susan Hooper, Chair Care Sourcer, NED at Uber, Affinity Water and Moonpig. Founding Director Chapter Zero

The role of the Chair in managing investor relations

Mark Tennant, Chair at BMO Private Equity Trust PLC

Increasing performance in the Company Secretariat

Laura McNeil, Assistant Company Secretary at Blue Prism PLC

Bringing cybersecurity know-how into the boardroom

Frank Satterwhite, CEO at 1600 Cyber

COVID-19 – A view from a FTSE100 Non-Executive Director

Ron Mobed, NED Aveva PLC, Robert Walters and Ordnance Survey and Supervisory Board Member at Fugro

COVID-19 – Thoughts from the CEO of a Professional Service Firm

Sarah Walker-Smith, CEO at Shakespeare Martineau

What counts now! Board leadership in times of Covid-19

Malcolm McKenzie, Managing Partner at Alvarez & Marsal

COVID-19 – Insights from the CEO of a game-changing UK tech start-up

Anthony Rose, CEO at SeedLegals

What really matters in the boardroom in 2020 and beyond

Sir John Parker, Chair Pennon PLC and Laing O'Rourke, Director of Carnival Corporation & PLC and lead NED at the Cabinet Office.

Strategies for overcoming assumptions about climate change in the boardroom

Lindsay Hooper, Executive Director Institute for Sustainability Leadership at University of Cambridge

The impact of climate change on the duties of Directors

Philippe Joubert, Chair Global Electricity Initiative, Founder and CEO Earth on Board

Tackling climate change – Insights from world-leading climate scientist

Dr Emily Shuckburgh OBE, Director, Cambridge Zero at University of Cambridge

The link between effective boards and organisational performance

Steve Maslin, Governor Nuttfield Health. NED Carey´s PLC, Royal Collection Trust, Ark Schools Academy Trust and Trustee The Gurkha Museum Trust

Speaking up in the boardroom and the critical role of Psychological Safety

Prof Amy C. Edmondson, Harvard Business School

Creating effective relationships between investors, the board and management

John Barton, Chair EasyJet PLC and Next PLC

Securing a role on a FTSE board

Carol Leonard, CEO at The Inzito Partnership

A VCs perspective on boards in young tech companies

Alexander Leigh, Investment Manager at Investment Bank of Wales

Information overload in the boardroom

Zsuzsanna Schiff, Manager Audit & Reporting at ICAEW and Hitesh Patel, NED Aviva Life Holdings, Capital Home Loans and Enstar

How Company Secretaries can create better boards

Carolyn Ferguson, Company Secretary at Go-Ahead Group PLC

Challenges in tackling climate change

Julie Baddeley, Chair Chapter Zero, NED TI Fluid Systems PLC, Ebiquity PLC and SID Marshall of Cambridge

The Chairman’s role in creating better boards

Andrew Allner, Chair SIF PLC, FOX Marble Holdings PLC and Shepherd Building Group

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