Over twenty-six years ago, my very first foray into the business world was on an assessment centre where I role-played a disgruntled customer in a meeting with the ‘CEO’ of a fictitious company. The senior executive (whose leadership skills were being assessed) dazzled with brilliant strategic solutions to my situation, and yet, I experienced him as pushy and not listening. During our role-play, I’d given him cues like: ‘I’ve got several problems’ and he started with the first and didn’t get...

My client, Graham (not his real name), announced at the beginning of our session that he was sick of waking up each day focused on things that weren’t working well. He would obsess about all the aspects of his life that he wanted to be better—and that seemed to include most areas—such as his work, relationships, and particularly himself. This would inevitably lead to overeating, smoking, or drinking alcohol and feeling even worse. Starting with a SUD level of 7 (subjective units of distress),...

As we look into the future, it appears that non-statutory responsibilities will be the area that will be most demanding for those working in governance. Even now, the focus is changing from a reactive to a proactive approach, and from dealing with the past to planning for the future. More than ever, boards need to make more effective, prudent and commercially savvy decisions that better protect and enhance the shareholders’ interests. In order to successfully achieve this, well-honed people...