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Why every lawyer should listen to Prof Empson’s “Insecure Overachievers”
In her BBC Radio 4 documentary, broadcast this week and available on BBC iPlayer, Prof Empson told us nothing new and everything new. We...
Ciaran Fenton
Oct 5, 20183 min read


The FRC includes a crucial word in the new UK Corporate Governance Code
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) today published the new UK Corporate Governance Code to predictably mixed reviews. However, one...
Ciaran Fenton
Jul 16, 20183 min read


How truth and reconciliation processes can help boards, nations and families
I briefly met Nelson Mandela and F W De Klerk at The World Economic Forum Africa Summit in Cape Town in 1994 when I was Commercial...
Ciaran Fenton
Jul 9, 20183 min read


Why lawyers and CXOs should listen to @rafaelbehr
“It sounds dull, but backstage legal bores are our antidote to...bullshitters. They are the types we will need one day to clean up this...
Ciaran Fenton
Jul 2, 20182 min read


Legal services: how to escape the 'more for less' trap
"All recipients of professional service...seem to be short of money...managers in business complain not only of shrinking budgets but...
Ciaran Fenton
Jun 16, 20183 min read


Lawyers could save the world, mirabile dictu...
Last week I facilitated a workshop involving over thirty in-house counsel from a large global corporate business. They were no different...
Ciaran Fenton
Jun 11, 20183 min read


Hay Festival: what boards can learn from Antony Beevor, Dambisa Moyo & Afua Hirsch
Recently at the Hay Festival, I had the good fortune on the same day to attend three great talks by three impressive speakers and, during...
Ciaran Fenton
Jun 6, 20183 min read


A business turnaround is more likely if its directors agree a shared purpose
This article was first published by Resolve Group UK in May 2018: A successful business turnaround is more likely if directors have a...
Ciaran Fenton
May 30, 20184 min read


If GCs waived their long-term incentive plans, would boards make better decisions?
This article was first published by The Law Society In-House InsideOut Magazine on April 30th. 2018. If GCs waived their long-term...
Ciaran Fenton
May 18, 20184 min read


The Carillion Report: three behaviour lessons for boards
It would be unwise for anyone to indulge in schadenfreude on reading the Joint BEIS & Work and Pensions Committees Report into the...
Ciaran Fenton
May 18, 20183 min read


Is it time for Director Effectiveness Reviews?
The picture above is a scan of some of my brainstorming doodles in the light of recent corporate traumas. I'm starting work with current...
Ciaran Fenton
May 18, 20181 min read


Can the FRC create a Phoenix from Carillion's ashes?
Yesterday I attended a Roundtable on the Financial Reporting Council's proposed new governance code hosted by PWC, under Chatham House...
Ciaran Fenton
Jan 31, 20182 min read


The Post: Why your board should watch it, altogether
At the end of your next board meeting I recommend that you and your fellow board members should all go out to the cinema, watch The Post,...
Ciaran Fenton
Jan 29, 20183 min read


Progressive boards: why not use the Jacinda Arden story to revolutionise "mat leave"?
"Woman at work with a baby" should not be headline news. Work in the 21st Century must be about integrating home and work life in a...
Ciaran Fenton
Jan 22, 20183 min read


Could a Devil's Advocate process prevent a Carillion situation in your business?
It's easy to throw rocks at Carillion. As some of the reasons for its collapse are emerging, so are the grim implications for those...
Ciaran Fenton
Jan 17, 20184 min read


Why your board’s business strategy should include personal lives
Can you think of a business strategy which does not include people? I wager you can’t because there isn’t one. Your board’s business...
Ciaran Fenton
Jan 4, 20183 min read


Does Mrs May’s Cabinet decision-making processes reflect a wider malaise in UK corporate governance?
“The cabinet has not discussed, let alone agreed, precisely what kind of relationship with the EU the UK should be seeking” writes James...
Ciaran Fenton
Jan 4, 20183 min read


Organisations don't have DNA, people do
This is the text of a talk I gave at a workshop that I hosted at the IOD, London on 29 November 2017. A video of the talk is available...
Ciaran Fenton
Jan 4, 20187 min read


Why boards should use HBR’s list of Best-Performing CEOs in the World 2017 with caution
Harvard Business Review has recently published its annual Best-Performing CEOs in the World rankings. Pablo Isla, Martin Sorrell and...
Ciaran Fenton
Nov 27, 20173 min read


Three leadership lessons CEOs can learn from Gordon Brown’s autobiography, My Life, Our Times
If you are a CEO or an aspiring leader wishing to improve your leadership skills, you will not waste time reading the recently published...
Ciaran Fenton
Nov 27, 20173 min read
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