Enter the Boardroom

Jacqueline de Rojas is Chair of the Bletchley Park Trust. Throughout her career she has championed greater inclusion in technology and leadership. Listen to this episode to hear about: The search firm call that led to her first board seat (01:40) What she noticed when she met the board in separate rooms (04:31) Going from knowing things to asking things (10:24) The one question she’s dropped from her vocabulary (13:57) Questions worth stealing for your next board meeting (14:43) The question to ask yourself before joining a board (17:06) Tapas or a full English: deciding to go plural (20:08) Lipstick on a pig: what boards get wrong about AI transformation (25:45) When the board gave AI a seat at the table (30:31)⚡The Lightning Round⚡(35:27)
Support the show
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Penelope Coumau
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kold
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Alexander S. Hoare is an eleventh-generation partner and director of C. Hoare & Co, the oldest privately owned bank in the UK. Listen to this episode to hear about: What it’s like to govern a bank when your own house is the collateral (01:25) The non-exec who stepped into a family war, and the question that ended it (06:22) How many non-execs is enough, and the dining table that sets the limit (08:49) A weekly hour with the chair, and splitting the bank from the family (12:27) Two handovers: from the 10th generation, and to the first non-family CEO (15:22) When a CEO should go, and when to plan your own exit (19:33) Unwinding a business he built himself (23:05) The legacy-system decision most bank CEOs leave to their successors (25:15) Where a small bank finds its edge as AI spreads (30:04) ⚡The Lightning Round⚡(33:22)
Support the show
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Penelope Coumau
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kold
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Dr. Annalisa Jenkins has held around fifty board and trustee roles across biotech, venture capital, public bodies and medical charities, including Compass Pathways, AVROBIO, Affimed and Mereo BioPharma. Tune into this episode to hear more about: The cold call that led to Annalisa’s first public board seat (01:37) The CV mistake that keeps first-time NEDs off boards (04:14) Two things Annalisa checks before joining any board (05:55) How she earned a reputation for replacing CEOs (12:23) Life as a CEO,  IPOs and genetic risks (15:20) Joining a board with no diligence, and what happened next (18:21) Losing a chair role by misreading the investors (21:33) A mental model for non-execs joining a biotech board (25:13) Running twenty boards, and her criteria for selecting board roles today (30:22) ⚡The Lightning Round⚡(36:42)
Support the show
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Penelope Coumau
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kold
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Conor Boden spent over two decades building boards for private equity funds. He was Head of Portfolio Board Development at Advent International. Listen to this episode to learn more about: What decides who private equity appoints as a chair or NED (01:42) Where to focus your time when no private equity board role is on offer (05:18) How private equity weighs track record against potential  (10:05) How to move from someone's radar into an interview process (14:21) Psychometrics versus other assessment techniques (19:48) The most common reason credible candidates miss out (21:37) Whether you can change how you come across in a private equity interview  (23:01) The board intervention that changes a business most (25:19) Why chairs and NEDs don’t get invited back (30:55) ⚡The Lightning Round⚡ (33:41)
Support the show
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Penelope Coumau
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kold
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Debbie Hewitt MBE is Chair of The Football Association, the first woman to hold the role in its history. She is also a Vice-President of FIFA. Alongside football, she chairs Visa Europe and Compare the Market. Tune into this episode to hear about: Common misunderstandings about the FA (02:36) How to prioritise amongst stakeholders (05:30) How Debbie decides when to step in (09:08) Working with governance rules created in 1863 (11:12) Why Debbie didn’t immediately push for women's clubs to join the FA (15:00) What CEO succession teaches you about choosing an England manager (20:10) The personal cost of chairing the FA (22:18) Three questions to ask yourself before you speak to the press (29:30) Debbie’s mistakes, building a portfolio (31:12)⚡The Lightning Round⚡(37:42)
Support the show
Host: Oliver Cummings
Producer: Will Felton
Editor: Penelope Coumau
Music: Kate Mac
Audio: Nick Kold
Email: podcast@nurole.com
Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom