A recent article published by the Small Cap Institute ends with the phrase “Experienced small-cap investors judge companies, in part, by the company they keep. Management should take note.” It is not just Management that should take note, Boards have a vital role to play in assessing the technical competence, intellectual honesty, and fearless integrity of every person with whom their company is associated.
The article starts with a quote from The Wall Street Journal by Mark Maurer, “Companies appear to avoid hiring auditors that have a history of critical audits at other companies…”
Boards have a vested interest in ensuring that Management do not foist a genial and gullible auditor upon them. The job of directing is hard enough. It requires support from well qualified, intellectually rigorous, and scrupulously honest advisors. Especially in the boardroom. Especially now, when Boards are under intense scrutiny.
If observers believe that ‘birds of a feather flock together’ do the advisers to your board do you credit? Or could you achieve greater things if advised with diligence and skill?
Julie Garland McLellan is a boardroom trends forecaster, experienced company director and professional conference speaker.
She features frequently as a commentator on TV and radio and is the bestselling author of 6 books. Her most recent book Not For Profit Board Dilemmas is a practical guide to thriving in boardrooms as the non-profit sector faces immense disruption.
To see Julie speaking live, click here.
For more information on Julie’s keynote speaking topics, visit www.directorsdilemma.com.
Julie Garland-McLellan is a boardroom expert with a difference; she has over 20 years of real-life board experience (including chairing a listed company board) as well as the latest governance theory from leading international institutions. She is the author of six books of practical wisdom for boards and directors.
Her newsletter The Director’s Dilemma is read in 68 countries and enjoyed by directors from government-owned, commercial, and not-for-profit boards. Hire Julie to speak at your next board retreat or conference.
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