Presenting to Boards: Practical Skills for Corporate Presentations
by Julie Garland McLellan
ISBN: 978-1451594065, Publisher: Great Governance, USA, March 2010
Reviewed by: Andrew Donovan, April 11, 2011
Board business is a secretive affair.
The way directors think, what they hold as important, how they see their role and what they think of management are all shrouded by the veil of secrecy that is the inner workings of director's minds and the closed doors of the boardroom.
It is therefore remarkable that until now no one has provided a comprehensive insight into this secret world for those who are, on occasion, admitted into it.
Luckily, Julie Garland McLellan has remedied this situation with her latest book.
Presenting to Boards provides an honest and insightful account of what boards want when people 'present' to them, giving a series of very practical points and personal advice to board level presenters.
Garland McLellan's overriding message is one of confidence: Confidence that if you are let in the door in the first place half your work is done.
In what may be a somewhat radical notion to managers, but an obvious one to directors, having already gained the credibility to get into the room, directors now want you to facilitate a vibrant discussion, not regurgitate the facts. The more you can learn how to be a facilitator (with facts at your finger tips) the more you will win the favour of the board.
In what is an otherwise comprehensive and easy read on the subject, Garland McLellan could perhaps have gone further in advising boardroom guests on how to best understand the individual needs of directors.
There are the 'pedants' with an insatiable desire for detail, the 'nervys' for who risk management is at near obsessive levels, the 'people' people who search constantly for the implications for culture and reputation, while we all know the 'number crunchers' who just want to see the bottom line. A detour into director behavioural types and meeting their information needs could add further richness to an already rich text.
This small improvement notwithstanding, both neophyte and Neanderthal board presenters will benefit from this rich resource of insight and practicality that opens the door and sheds some light on the inner sanctum of the secret society known as the board.
1 Andrew Donovan has been a private and not-for-profit company director and Board adviser for the last twelve years. He is an independent chairman in the dairy industry, a director of TBL Australia Ltd and a director of several of the Thoughtpost group companies. Andrew was chairman of Environment Victoria from 2000 to 2003. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) and facilitates both the AICD Advanced Program and Company Directors courses and is the co-author of several AICD courses.