The Director's Dilemma

We may not all have had the benefit of learning grammar, or the structure of writing within a style-guide and template, or the ease of speaking English as our first language. When it comes to board papers, and business reports in general, we all need to write clearly, meet the needs of our readers, and create an irrefutable record for future reference. Nowadays, we also need to learn how to write clear prompts that will generate useful responses from AI. I love running my 'Writing Better Business Papers' courses and there is still space for one more person at the Melbourne course on Friday. If you, or someone you know, would like to attend, you can book at https://lnkd.in/grGs9nHW. #boards #writing #careers I can't think of a better way to spend a Friday or a better investment in your executive career. Can you?

A few days ago I posted a video about picking your times and topics for speaking in the board meeting. Today I am adding to that advice with some ideas for considering how you phrase your comments and get the right tone. What other advice would you add? If you would like training on Presenting to Boards or Writing Better Board Papers, please contact me. #boards #directors #meetings

I'm thrilled to join the board of Farmlink Research Ltd and looking forward to my first meeting. Even better, I will be doing a two-day deep immersion into strategy and getting to know my new colleagues, before the meeting. I can't wait! Speaking from experience and in understanding #how boards deliver governance rather than just #demanding that they do deliver is vitally important. #boards #directors #practical #governance https://lnkd.in/g4Ha6uCC

Do you really need every director to say something about every agenda item? Probably not. Here are some ideas to help you to select the best times and topics to add value to your board. What else would you add to the advice? #boards #directors #meetings

No prizes for guessing why I am happy this morning. Looking forward to the Writing Better Board Papers Course in Sydney today. It's always exciting waiting to meet the wonderful participants and I am thrilled that their boards will soon be getting better papers. Will I see you (or some members of your executive team) at the Melbourne course? #boards #directors #governance #papers

How can directors increase productivity? What a great theme and question for the first AICD Fellows' dinner of our year. No easy answers. Plenty to think about and consider: - labour productivity (great analogy of how long does a teacher work to earn enough to buy a bottle of milk) - the ratio of labour to capital in our product and service provision (why is the USA more capital intensive than we are? What stops us investing? Is it really/only that our labour is cheap?) - the mix of strategic v. transactional value added by our work - labour market flexibility or rigidity - barriers to increasing workforce participation (housing availability, childcare, etc.) - our cultural preferences about being ambitious, wanting to challenge the status quo, choosing a trade rather than a university degree, ongoing learning, etc. - immigration and exmigration (including the recognition of experience and learning from other jurisdictions) - the age (and experience) of the workforce Peter Achterstraat AM FAICD(Life) did such an excellent job that I #want to go and reread my economics text books. Introduced by Mark Rigotti and moderated by Louise McElvogue - the Q&A would still be going if the time had not run out. Heartfelt thanks for a valuable and educational evening. Hosted by the wornderful staff at Australian Institute of Company Directors and a special shout out to Paramjit Kaur AAICD and Paola Tesolin AAICD who manage to make everyone feel as welcome as family and as special as royalty. I can't wait until the next one! I would love to hear your ideas on increasing #productivity. Please share below. #boards #directors #governance

It was true then and it remains true now; very few boards understand their true cost impost on the organisation and very few organisations track the full cost of their boards. if you don't know what you have spent, you can't claim return on investment. Thanks to Better Boards for republishing this article today. https://lnkd.in/gZnH2qvw If you would like to improve the cost effectiveness of your board contact me for a 30% discount on the price of my Writing Better Board Papers Course or on my Chairing Boards and Committees Course.

“Directors are not merely ornaments. They are to read the papers and engage in oversight of the interests of the company.” Dr Ruth Higgins, SC, acting for ASIC in the case against the directors of The Star Entertainment Group. But sometimes the papers lack clarity and impact. Sometimes that can be a very costly lack. Bank of Queensland took a $60,000,000 provision in its recent annual accounts to cover the costs of remedying defects in its board reporting. Ouch! Poor shareholders! Star has dropped from a shareprice of $4.20 in November 2015 to just 11¢ in February 2025 and is now in crisis talks because it fears becoming insolvent. Ouch! Poor shareholders! And, of course, the directors themselves are at risk. They could face years of legal action and dimished ability to further their own careers. Investing in developing clear, impactful board papers should be a 'no brainer'. Yet few companies bother to do this. At almost every board review I have conducted, the quality of papers has been bemoaned by directors and dissatisfaction with the process of preparing papers is cited by staff as a major concern. Yet few insist on training as part of the performance improvement plan. There are still places available at my next courses on writing better board papers. I can also arrange an in-house course if that would be your preference. There is no substitute for clear impactful papers that focus the board on the key issues. Details available at https://lnkd.in/gmZRZhz3

"Overall, Julie’s course was the most practical, useful, and expertly delivered professional training session I’ve attended in recent years." I am always thrilled with the feedback after each delivery of my Writing Better Board Papers Course. If you want to save your time in preparing papers and improve your board's ability to make better decisions based on the papers they receive, please come along to one of my up-coming courses. I guarantee you will benefit!