Governance Matters podcast: Moving to a new governance role and helping boards adapt to change

Boards have a special part to play in navigating change and corporate secretaries have an increasingly important role to play in making sure directors are prepared to take on this task.

In part one of our latest podcast episode, host Jeff Cosette speaks to Evan Barth about change at the professional level following Barth’s move from a successful 13-year career at IBM to his new role as assistant corporate secretary at newly public IBM spin-off Kyndryl.

‘Imagine a start-up that begins with $19 bn in revenue… At the same time, you get the entrepreneurial shift of a new company. In some sense you start with a blank page in terms of governance,’ Barth says.

‘Governance is at this crossroads right now with the intersection of the E and the S of ESG into governance. To be able to start with a blank piece of paper and take a step back and look at what the committees do and look at what the board does and look at how management can help frame the message and support initiatives and processes, it’s a very exciting balance between an entrepreneurial posture with the backdrop of a $19 bn company.’

In part two, Ben Ashwell talks to Madeleine Scrafton, managing director for UK governance services at Computershare, about director education as the role of boards and the environment around them transforms.

‘Company secretaries need to think, How do we arm our directors to ask the right questions about this? [without] necessarily giving them all the possible answers and information,’ Scrafton says.

The Governance Matters podcast provides listeners with insight into cutting-edge issues of the day for corporate secretaries, general counsel and other governance professionals.

The series looks at how the role of the corporate secretary and the board has evolved over time, as well as how the governance landscape continues to change. From ESG to entity management, shareholder engagement to technology, hear from award-winning governance professionals and leading advisers about the latest public company governance matters.

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