Dear members,
Welcome to our latest quarterly newsletter. We hope you are all well and that your families are safe and happy. As the remainder of 2021 draws to a close, we have a packed schedule for the next few months and have started to plan for and look forward to 2022.
Theme: The Board’s Role in Strategy
The theme of this newsletter is the board’s role in strategy.
One of the defining characteristics of a strong board is alignment on purpose, long-term vision, and strategy. This alignment must permeate throughout the organisation so the board and management are fully aligned on why the organization exists (purpose and vision), where the organization is going (strategy), and how it will get there (tactics). The board’s role is to approve and oversee strategy, in partnership with management. Management’s role is to develop the strategic plan, reflecting on guidance and expectations set by the board, and execute on strategy and tactics.
This is therefore a very important topic and we are delighted to welcome some interesting articles from our partners on this, please have a good read.
Firstly, Jan Bladen, Senior GCC BDI External Associate has shared his thoughts on Where Does the Strategy Buck Stop? So what is the role of a board and how involved should a board be in the development and design of a corporate’s strategy? Read the complete article here.
Next PwC discuss The board’s role in strategy: getting the process right here. We then also offer articles from McKinsey on The new digital edge: Rethinking strategy for the post-pandemic era here and The board’s role in embedding corporate purpose: Five actions directors can take today here.
Women in Governance Series
GCC BDI, together with the Caribbean Corporate Governance Institute, The Hong Kong Institute of Directors, Mauritius Institute of Directors, Institute of Directors New Zealand, and The Institute of Directors South Africa, have now concluded a global webinar series, which tackled key themes and issues surrounding women in governance positions.
The online Women in Governance Series, which ran through July and August, attracted senior directors from around the world and discussed the crucial roles women play in governance positions, their value, and how society can support more women in leadership roles, especially with access to the boardroom. The series was divided up into three webinars including: Corporate Governance and Why Gender Matters, Women on Boards, and Corporate Governance Policies that Support Women. Key speakers included Robert Riley, retired chairman and CEO at BP, Helen Brand, chief executive, ACCA, and Ada Chung, Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Hong Kong. Please see here for further details in the press release.
Board Summit 2021
GCC BDI was recently delighted to partner with Aurora50 for the Board Summit 2021, which was held under the esteemed patronage of Sheikha Shamma bint Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan and supported by the Central Bank of the UAE and the Securities & Commodities Authority (SCA). Jane Valls was a speaker and discussed ‘Building boards of the future: a deeper look at the board skills matrix’.
Chairman Summit
We were recently disappointed to have to postpone our 8th GCC BDI Chairman Summit from 16 September 2021 to Q1 2022 due to the ongoing travel restrictions. We continue to be very grateful to the Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC) for their support of this event and we very much look forward to announcing the new date in 2022 and hosting the next event with a great line-up of speakers and panellists.
Marcus Evans 13th Annual Board Secretary Conference: Guardians of The Board
GCC BDI is again collaborating with Marcus Evans on their upcoming 13th Annual Board Secretary Conference: Guardians of The Board. This is an annual conference which brings together top boardroom, governance and compliance professionals to share their thoughts and experiences, whilst providing insights with the latest technology and trends to facilitate board secretaries stepping up and leading the strategy of the boardroom.
GCC BDI’s Executive Director, Jane Valls, will be speaking on the topic 'The Role of the Board Secretary in Corporate Culture'. In this session on 2 November, she will discuss the importance of corporate culture, the board secretary’s role in building ethical cultures, business ethics, ethical principles, and ethical values, and how to develop a healthy board culture of corporate governance. Please do join us at this conference, to learn more click here.
GCC BDI bi-annual survey on board effectiveness updates
Every two years the GCC BDI undertakes a survey of board effectiveness in the GCC region. The upcoming survey will be our 7th edition and the final report is intended to provide insights for board members, investors, advisers, and governments into the changes and improvements made in corporate governance practices in the GCC in the two years since the last GCC BDI report was published in 2019. We are in the process on developing the survey in collaboration with Heidrick & Struggles and will be launching soon, please look out space for further information.
Member networking
We have introduced a new initiative to increase member visibility amongst the GCC BDI membership community. Every month, an email is sent to GCC BDI Members informing them of newly joined Members, to facilitate more networking opportunities amongst our Members.
Members can also now connect with newly joined Members via our online Membership Directory, found within the Member Portal. Through the Membership Directory, Members can search, engage and connect with each other. Please note this feature is only available to Members & Fellows. If you would like to find out how the Membership Directory works and how you can manage your data, please click here.
For Associates who would like to upgrade their membership to the Member category, please get in touch with Mariane Zanatta at membership@gccbdi.com
Mentorship Programme – End of first cohort
GCC BDI has now concluded the first cohort of the Mentorship Programme. The success of the first cohort indicated the importance of offering the Mentorship Programme to encourage director development. Through the support and guidance of our mentor professionals, who have great experience in boardrooms and who demonstrate honesty, integrity, respect and responsibility for stewardship, individual mentees have been supported towards achieving their professional goals.
We would like to thank all Mentors who have contributed to the success of this programme and their invaluable support to our Mentees.
To view the testimonials of mentees, please click here.
The registration for the second cohort has now closed. Please watch out for our email communications for more information on future cohorts.
Events
We welcome the continued lifting of travel restrictions across the region and are delighted to be running in-person workshops again. Our upcoming events which may be of interest include the following:
- Online Workshop Empowering Women Directors, 17 – 18 October (click here to register)
- Online Workshop Scenario Planning and Future Strategic Thinking, 20 October (click here to register)
- Online Workshop Foundations of Directorship, 3-4 November 2021 (click here to register)
- Corporate Governance Essentials Riyadh, KSA, 5-6 December 2021 (click here to register)
Jane and the GCC BDI team