Directorship | Boardroom Intelligence » Blythe J. McGarvie http://www.directorship.com Boardroom Intelligence Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:17:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Where Directors Draw the Line http://www.directorship.com/where-directors-draw-the-line/ http://www.directorship.com/where-directors-draw-the-line/#comments Wed, 01 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0000 Christopher Y. Clark http://www.directorship.com/?p=4109 Each year thousands of C-suite executives have the epiphany that they want to be or should be corporate directors of major U.S. companies—somewhat shocking given the financial and reputational risks that board members have become exposed to over the last six years. Nevertheless, I admire their goal and the energy needed to accomplish the task of developing credentials, and getting noticed by the powers that be.

Given the risks, where do current directors draw the line on not joining a particular board? And does it change over time?

Barbara Hackman Franklin, director, Aetna and Dow Chemical:

“In deciding whether to join a public company board, ask two questions:

  • One, is management competent to run this business?
  • Two, does management have values and ethics you agree with? If either answer is “no,” don’t do it.

If the answers are “yes” and you like the company’s business portfolio, think you could work comfortably with others on the board as well as the CEO, and have experience and expertise to bring to the table, then do it. But make sure you understand the legal and regulatory context of the Sarbanes-Oxley era and the increasing accountability and visibility that goes with the territory. Being a director today is challenging—but it can be rewarding!”

Thomas L. Harrison, director, Morgan Hotels:

“I look for boards that are complementary to my profession. I want to learn more about complementary businesses that are global, relevant, and innovative. I want to be able to deliver value and strategic thinking to the prospective board. I want the company to be a leader or the leader in its industry. Short of this, I will generally turn down the opportunity.”

Edward A. Kangas, director, EDS:

“A company’s integrity, transparency, and openness to board engagement are the three key ingredients which need to exist for me to consider joining a board. If they are in place, the final question is whether I will be able to be truly helpful. Unless all four conditions exist, I will choose not to get involved.”

Stuart R. Levine, director, Broadridge; lead director, Gentiva:

“A key criterion for my considering joining a board is a strong ethical culture. By definition, that means the board has a strong focus on the validation of a strategic plan that is focused on creating shareholder value. A fundamental issue, from my perspective, is a belief in the corporation’s mission and its capacity to deliver results for customers. An indicator of the strength of the board is its willingness to engage in an annual self-assessment of its effectiveness. As we enter into a new era of enhanced liability, it is critical that a candidate for board membership weigh reputational risk and his or her capacity to add value to the organization.”

Blythe J. McGarvie, director, Accenture:

“I would not join a board unless it understood that human talent strategy is as critical for success as business strategy, marketing, and finance.” In her latest book, Shaking the Globe, Blythe writes about the importance of spreading capitalism in many ways, including at the board level, and working with companies that have the courage to shape the future in this increasingly interconnected world.

Taking the Leap

A rising generation of new leaders without chief executive experience, with focused skill sets, and attuned to the world under SOX has opened up new and fascinating possibilities for the coming years. What is impossible to know is how these new leaders will perform and whether they are making the right choice not only for themselves, but for the nation’s future economic health.

Near-directors need to have the requisite courage in their DNA to serve. They should be prepared for a barbecue by the press—and even their peers—in the event of a real or supposed board misstep in a “job” always made imperfect by a lack of timely knowledge.

I leave you with this question: Would you advise a near-director to take the leap?

]]> http://www.directorship.com/where-directors-draw-the-line/feed/ 0 The 2008 List of Influentials on the Directorship 100 http://www.directorship.com/the-2008-list-of-influentials-on-the-directorship-100/ http://www.directorship.com/the-2008-list-of-influentials-on-the-directorship-100/#comments Mon, 01 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0000 Directorship Editors http://www.directorship.com/?p=4340 Alphabetical Listing of the individuals in the Directorship 100

Roger Ailes, Fox News

Sharon Allen, Deloitte & Touche

Herbert M. Allison Jr., Director

Gavin Anderson, GMI

Philip A. Armstrong, GCGF

Norman R. Augustine, Director

Stephen Bainbridge, UCLA

Maria Bartiromo, CNBC

David Batchelder, Relational Investors

Lucian A. Bebchuk, Harvard Law

Irv Becker, Hay Group

Beverly Behan, Hay Group

Richard Bennett, The Corporate Library

Robert S. Bennett, Skadden Arps

Dennis R. Beresford, U. of Georgia

Ethan Berman, RiskMetrics Group

Ben Bernanke, The Federal Reserve

John Biggs, Director

Leon Black, Apollo

Lloyd C. Blankfein, Goldman Sachs

Richard Blumenthal, State of Conn.

Magnus Bocker, Nasdaq OMX

John C. Bogle, Hall of Fame

Richard Breeden, Breeden Partners

Catherine L. Bromilow, PwC

Beth A. Brooke, E&Y

Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway

Peter Butler, Governance for Owners

Marshall Carter, NYSE Euronext

Martha Carter, RiskMetrics Group

John J. Castellani, Business Roundtable

William B. Chandler III, Chancery Court

Ram Charan, Charan Associates

Peter Clapman, Governance for Owners

John C. Coffee, Columbia Law School

Frederic W. Cook, Frederic W. Cook & Co.

J. Michael Cook, Director

Christopher Cox, SEC

Jim Cramer, TheStreet.com

Andrew Cuomo, State of New York

Kenneth Daly, NACD

Julie Hembrock Daum, Spencer Stuart

George L. Davis, Egon Zehnder Intl.

Stephen M. Davis, Millstein Center

James L. Dimon, JPMorgan

Samuel A. DiPiazza, Jr., PwC

Christopher Dodd, U.S. Senate

Amy Domini, Domini Social Investments

William H. Donaldson, Hall of Fame

Thomas J. Donohue, Chamber of Commerce

Ed Durkin, United Brotherhood of Carpenters

Theodore L. Dysart, Heidrick & Struggles

Jay Eisenhofer, Grant & Eisenhofer

Charles Elson, U. of Delaware

John Engler, NAM

Richard Ferlauto, AFSCME

Timothy Flynn, KPMG

Margaret “Peggy” Foran, Sara Lee

Cynthia M. Fornelli, CAQ

Barney Frank, U.S. Congress

William F. Galvin, State of Mass.

William W. George, Harvard Business School

Kayla Gillan, RiskMetrics Group

Robert J. Giuffra, Jr., Sullivan & Cromwell

Scott Goebel, Fidelity

Holly Gregory, Weil, Gotshal & Manges

Robert Greifeld, Nasdaq OMX

Joseph Grundfest, Stanford Law School

Steven Hall, Steven Hall & Partners

Robert Hallagan, Korn/Ferry Intl.

Laurence P. Hazell, Standard & Poor’s

Edward Herlihy, Wachtell Lipton

Robert Herz, FASB

John A. Hill, Putnam

Paul Hodgson, The Corporate Library

Christopher Hohn, TCI

Michele J. Hooper, Director

Anthony J. Horan, JP Morgan

Carl Icahn, Icahn Investments

Ray R. Irani, Occidental Petroleum

Edward Kangas, Director

Adam Kanzer, Domini Social Investments

Henry Keizer, KPMG

Donald Keough, Director

Joe Kernen, CNBC

Richard Ketchum, FINRA

Charles King, Korn/Ferry Intl.

Catherine Kinney, NYSE Euronext

Jannice L. Koors, Pearl Meyer & Partners

Richard H. Koppes, Jones Day

Henry Kravis, KKR

Frederick J. Krebs, ACC

John A. Krol, Director

Robert Kueppers, Deloitte & Touche

Arthur Levitt, Hall of Fame

Martin Lipton, Wachtell Lipton

Jay W. Lorsch, Harvard Business School

Joann Lublin, Wall Street Journal

Steve Mader, Korn/Ferry Intl.

Ken Marzion, CalPERS

Mary Pat McCarthy, KPMG

Bill McCollum, State of Florida

Robert McCormick, Glass Lewis

Blythe J. McGarvie, Director

William McGuinness, Fried Frank

Patrick McGurn, RiskMetrics Group

W. James McNerney, Jr. Boeing

James P. Melican, PGI

Pearl Meyer, Steven Hall & Partners

Bill Miller, Legg Mason

Ira Millstein, Hall of Fame

Nell Minow, The Corporate Library

Robert A.G. Monks, author, Corpocracy

Peter Montagnon, ABI

Gretchen Morgenson, New York Times

Anne Mulcahy, Xerox

Anne Mule, Sunoco

Rupert Murdoch, News Corp.

Alan Murray, Wall Street Journal

Jim Naughton, Corporate Governance Blog

Thomas Neff, Spencer Stuart

Duncan Niederauer, NYSE Euronext

Joseph Nocera, New York Times

Floyd Norris, New York Times

Mark Olson, PCAOB

James Owens, Caterpillar

Michael Oxley, Hall of Fame

William Patterson, CtW

Henry M. Paulson, Jr. U.S. Treasury

Harry Pearce, Director

Harvey L. Pitt, Kalorama Partners

Becky Quick, CNBC

Carl Quintanilla, CNBC

David Rubenstein, Carlyle Group

Paul Sarbanes, Hall of Fame

Charles E. Schumer, U.S. Senate

Stephen A. Schwarzman, Blackstone

Mary Shapiro, FINRA

Damon Silvers, AFL-CIO

David W. Smith, SCSGP

Michael Smith, AIG

Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld, Yale School of Management

Larry W. Sonsini, Wilson Sonsini

Andrew Ross Sorkin, New York Times

Myron T. Steele, Delaware Supreme Court

Leo E. Strine, Chancery Court

David N. Swinford, Pearl Meyer & Partners

John Thain, Merrill Lynch

Andrew Tuch, Corporate Governance Blog

James S. Turley, E&Y

E. Norman Veasey, Weil Gotshal & Manges

Stephen Wagner, Deloitte & Touche

Carol Ward, Kraft Foods

Henry Waxman, U.S. Congress

Ralph Whitworth, Relational Investors

John Wilcox, TIAA-CREF

Note: More than 100 individuals are named because some listings contain more than one person at the same company or in the same industry.

For the complete 2008 Directorship 100 article, click HERE.

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