Latest news with #boardroom
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
How much Son Heung-min's 'K Factor' is really worth to Tottenham: The enormous value of South Korean fandom, what Spurs lose if he completes Los Angeles switch - and the US jackpot they can finally seize
On Easter Monday came a glimpse for Tottenham into something they haven't had for a decade: a future without . Nottingham Forest were visiting and Spurs had by this stage of the campaign surrendered hope in all but the Europa League, but there was another reason for an unusual number of empty seats and it was not lost on those in the boardroom.
Forbes
22-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Why Reading The Room Is A Strategic Leadership Skill
Diverse company employees having online business conference video call on tv screen monitor in board ... More meeting room. Videoconference presentation, global virtual group corporate training concept. Most people spend their prep time on content. They polish the story. Tweak the slide order. Clean up the numbers for the leadership team. Get the buy-in. But that's not where the decision gets made. Not really. AI can help now. It'll write the memo. Draft the deck. Sharpen your strategy. So your edge doesn't come from what you present. It comes from what you perceive. When you walk into a room of executives, you're not stepping into a presentation. You're stepping into a live system. A space pulsing with history, hierarchy and half-spoken truths. Everyone's got their own map of what matters. Some want speed. Some want cover. Some want to win. And some just don't want to lose. You might be there to pitch a project or get sign-off on a shift in direction. Maybe you're chasing investment for a new platform. But long before your first word, the real decision is already circling—in the glances, in the pauses, in what's left unsaid. You'll likely walk into a room where everything looks fine on the surface. But there's something off. A quiet tension between two execs. A budget conflict you didn't see coming. A project that steps on someone else's turf. The deck is tight. The logic sound. But the room won't move. Reading the room isn't polish. It's survival. The roles below aren't job titles. They're tendencies, patterns, lenses. A CFO might be your Humanist. A CHRO might ask the hardest strategic question. People shift. But if you learn to see the need underneath the title, you won't just present better. You'll lead better. I didn't always see it this way. Early in my career, when I was facilitating executive sessions or presenting strategy decks, I thought my job was to build consensus. To get everyone aligned, nodding, moving as one. But over years of working with hundreds of leadership teams—across workshops, boardrooms and hard decisions—I saw something else. The room doesn't move because everyone agrees. It moves because enough people see their own path to the same outcome. That's equifinality. Equifinality is the idea that people can arrive at the same endpoint through different routes. In leadership settings, it means decisions don't require identical thinking or full agreement. They require directional convergence. Each person may have a different motive, concern or lens, but they can still reach the same destination. If you're focused only on consensus, you'll miss the real alignment forming through tension, quiet resistance or fragile trust. The Strategist: Alignment Seeker Let's say it's Lena, the CSO. She's looking at how your idea lands three moves from now—what bets it connects to, what it threatens, where it ladders into the future. You'll likely see her pause when something doesn't track. One misalignment with a prior commitment and momentum can vanish. What helps? Don't just prove it's smart. Show why it fits the larger system. What she's thinking: If this knocks over something we've already committed to, we're not aligned. And if we're not aligned, we're exposed. The Decider: Action Driver Imagine Ray, the COO. Ray's energy is forward. He wants the plan, the cost, the steps. If you take too long setting context, he tunes out fast. You'll likely see him interrupt if the ask isn't clear. He's not being difficult, but indecision irritates him. What helps? Start with what you need. Be precise. Show the outcome. What he's thinking: If you can't lead me to action, how will you lead the project? The Humanist: Culture Carrier Let's say Priya, the CHRO, is in the room. She's listening for impact—not just organizational but emotional. Who this helps. Who it leaves behind. Whether it builds or breaks trust. You'll likely hear a question about voice or inclusion. One you hadn't prepared for. It might stall your flow, but it's not a derail. It's a safeguard. What helps? Frame the people implications. Belonging, voice, dignity. Show care, not just competence. What she's thinking: If this erodes trust, we'll spend a year trying to rebuild it. The Skeptic: Data Defender Picture Jennifer, the CFO. Jennifer doesn't attack. She asks. One sharp question at a time. She's not blocking you. She's stress-testing your thinking. You'll likely hear a challenge to something foundational—your comp set, your ROI logic, your timelines. If your answer is fuzzy, the room shifts fast. What helps? Name your assumptions. Bring clarity, not spin. Treat challenge like currency. What she's thinking: If I find one soft spot, there are probably more. I can't afford that risk. Diverse Modern Office: Businessman Leads Business Meeting with Managers, Talks, uses Presentation TV ... More with Statistics, Infographics. Digital Entrepreneurs Work on e-Commerce Project. The Operator: Feasibility First Now meet Jen, Head of Ops. Jen isn't chasing vision. She's scanning for consequences. What breaks. Who's accountable. What falls through the cracks. You'll likely hear a blunt question about capacity. Or a quiet one about who's covering the teams pulled into implementation. If there's no answer, the plan can wobble. What helps? Bring a rollout map. Even rough. Show handoffs, pain points and where readiness might be overestimated. What she's thinking: Don't hand me a beautiful idea and expect me to clean up the fallout. The Advocate: Inside Ally Andre, VP of Innovation, is with you. He brings energy, belief and early support. But he also wants credit, visibility and voice. Cut him out and his support softens. You'll likely hear him cool off mid-meeting if he feels excluded. A quiet shift. A missed reference. The belief stays, but the advocacy drops. What helps? Give him language, slides and soundbites. Let him shape the story. What he's thinking: If I helped build this and then am forgotten, can I still trust you? The Machine: The Algorithm at the Table There's one more participant in the room. Not human. Not on the agenda. But everywhere. The Machine—AI—now sits behind many of the decisions you're pitching into. It has already briefed the COO. Summarized your report for the CFO. Flagged reputational risks to the CHRO. It's surfacing issues, prompting questions and filtering tone in real time. You'll likely see someone checking a screen while you speak. That's not distraction. That's AI highlighting gaps or risk triggers. The Machine doesn't argue. It surfaces. It shapes decisions one prompt at a time. What helps? Assume it's working. Don't bluff. Don't bury tension. Name the tradeoffs yourself before it does. What it's doing that you can't see: It isn't emotional. But it speeds up emotion. Speeds up judgment. Flattens nuance. And it makes refusal easier. The Interplays: Where Power Shifts This is where decisions happen. Not in roles, but between them. The Decider and Operator might align fast but miss the risk the Strategist sees coming. The Advocate brings fire. The Skeptic brings water. You need both. The Humanist and Skeptic may clash. One wants care. One wants proof. Both want accountability. You'll likely see things fall apart not because someone objects but because no one bridges the tension between two others. Watch who defers to whom. Who goes quiet when someone speaks. Where silence lingers after a big ask. This is the real noise underneath. 'If this fails, it's my name on the line' 'If I stay quiet, I can't be blamed' 'Do I really trust the person pitching this' 'If I say yes, do I own it' No one says these things out loud. But they shape the room. Decisions don't run on logic. They run on self-preservation, ego, risk, memory and trust. For great teams divergence isn't dysfunction. It's a recalibration tool. Where You Stand Shapes What You See You're not just presenting. You're reading, feeling, adjusting. You're not there to impress. You're there to sense what others won't say. To catch the moment inside a pause. To name what's hiding in someone's silence. One mistake people make is this. They think reading the room means stepping back. Like being a fly on the wall. But that's not where influence lives. You don't belong on the wall. You belong in the center. Present. Grounded. Steady in your voice. The power of foresight doesn't come from watching. It comes from placing yourself inside the room. Eyes up. Body tuned. Reading patterns. Feeling shifts. Sensing the energy that floats in and out like breath. Because that's what an executive room really is. A living thing. It breathes. It tightens. It exhales. It moves even when no one is speaking. And if you can feel that—if you can sense it with your whole body, not just your mind—you move with it. You match it. You shape it. The best presenters don't walk out with praise. They walk out with momentum. Read the eyes. Read the silence. Read the room. That's where leadership buy-in starts. And the decisions begin.
Forbes
21-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Vision Without Execution Is Hallucination—Here's How To Bridge The Gap
Nick Leighton. Best-selling author, speaker #ChampagneMoment Most leaders have a vision for where they want to lead their team and organization. It's often carefully crafted and meticulously planned in their minds. However, despite having a brilliant vision, things rarely go according to plan. In many cases, these inspiring visions remain nothing more than whiteboard dreams. The strategic picture in the boardroom bears little resemblance to its operational execution. Unfortunately, this is all too common in the business world. Why do so many strategic plans fail? Things can go awry for a number of reasons. Often, it's not a lack of effort or intelligence but the inability to build a connection between high-level ideas and repeatable, results-oriented action. This disconnect often stems from leaders treating an intellectual exercise of developing strategy as a separate thing from the gritty work of daily operations. Repeated cycles of failed execution can lead to feelings of strategy fatigue, where leaders become disengaged and frustrated and lose their edge. The good news is that this gap is something that can be addressed easily with the right approach. Align with your senior leadership. A leader can't execute a vision alone. It's critical that your senior leadership team is fully on board to champion it across the organization. Many visions are inspiring but vague. To achieve this alignment, hold a workshop with your core leadership team. It's important that this workshop doesn't become a one-way soapbox. Use it as an opportunity to get feedback from your leadership team. What might work brilliantly in your mind might have flaws that are not obvious to you. This collaboration also ensures that you have shared ownership of the vision and ensures collective understanding and support for execution. Convert your vision into actionable goals. Converting your high-level vision into actionable goals requires breaking it down into manageable parts. This approach can make a grand vision feel less overwhelming and easier to delegate to specific people or departments in the organization. The goal is to convert your overarching vision into three to five nonnegotiable, measurable outcomes within a specific, aggressive timeframe. These outcomes can then be further segmented into specific projects or tasks for the team to execute. Build an accountability matrix. Often, the failure point of a strategic vision is a lack of clear ownership or accountability. Leaders sometimes make the mistake of giving a blanket responsibility to everyone in the organization. The problem is that when everyone's responsible, no one is. To turn your vision into results, communicating clear roles and responsibilities is essential. One of the best ways to accomplish this is through an accountability matrix. In the matrix, every action details a clear owner, deadline and resources for operational clarity. By implementing a rigorous accountability matrix for all key projects and tasks, there will be no confusion as to who is responsible for each part of the overall plan. Break down silos. Strategies often falter due to departmental silos, leading to miscommunication and poor handoffs. This is especially true for massive organizations such as Fortune 500 companies. Leaders need to encourage the removal of barriers that prevent the cohesive execution of their plan. A good strategy is to establish regular cross-functional sync meetings. These should function like working sessions for interdependent leaders to proactively work to identify and resolve roadblocks, collaborate, facilitate smooth handoffs and share resources. Focus on maintaining momentum. Most strategic initiatives start the same way. They get a ton of attention and effort in the beginning when the business leader initially shares their vision, but over time, they lose momentum. As a leader, you need to focus closely on ways to keep your team from losing steam and seeing the execution through to the end. To prevent stalling, embed a consistent review cycle into your operations. Beyond quarterly reviews, hold weekly or bi-weekly operational check-ins for key initiatives. These meetings shouldn't be used for just status updates but as opportunities to resolve issues, confirm dependencies and commit to next steps. This regular attention can help create a steady, ongoing pressure to follow through. Celebrate small wins while being open to improvement. Executing a long-term strategic vision can be daunting, and teams need tangible progress to stay motivated and affirm they're on the right path. It's crucial to celebrate small wins along the way. Make it a regular practice to recognize and publicly celebrate incremental achievements. This builds morale and reinforces desired behaviors. While celebrating wins is critical, you can simultaneously use it as an opportunity to examine incomplete milestones that may be facing setbacks. This can allow for continuous improvement in a way that is healthy and conducive to focusing on success rather than shortfalls. The true power of a leader lies not just in envisioning the future but in meticulously orchestrating the execution that brings that vision to life. With the right strategic approach, you can inspire your team to get behind your vision and transform ambitious ideas into tangible, impactful results. Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?
Zawya
21-07-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Most organizations miss business context when assessing cyber risk, finds new research from Qualys
According to new research commissioned by Qualys and conducted by Dark Reading, despite rising investments, evolving frameworks, and more vocal boardroom interest, most organizations remain immature in their risk management programs. Nearly half of organizations (49%) surveyed for Qualys' 2025 State of Cyber-risk Assessment report, today have a formal business-focused cybersecurity risk management program. However, just 18% of organizations use integrated risk scenarios that focus on business-impacting processes, showing how investments manage the likelihood and impact of risk quantitatively, including risk transfer to insurance. This is a key deficiency, as business stakeholders expect the CISO to focus on business risk. Key findings from the research include: Formal Risk Programs are Expanding, But Business Context is Still Missing 49% of surveyed organizations report having a formal cyber risk program in place which looks like a promising statistic on the surface. But dig deeper, and the data shows otherwise: Business Alignment Gaps: Only 30% report that their risk management programs are prioritized based on business objectives Recent Implementations: 43% of existing programs have been in place for less than two years, indicating a nascent stage of maturity Future Plans: An additional 19% are still in the planning phase More Investment ≠ Less Risk: Why the Cyber ROI isn't Adding Up Cybersecurity spending has continued to grow. Yet one of the most revealing insights from the study is that a vast majority (71%) of organizations believe that their cyber risk levels are rising or holding steady. 51% say their overall cyber risk exposure is increasing 20% say it remains unchanged Only 6% have seen risk levels decrease The Missing Metric: Business Relevance in Asset Intelligence Visibility in cyber risk management is about a principle that hasn't changed in 20 years: you can't protect what you can't see. Yet even in 2025, asset visibility remains one of the biggest blind spots: 83% of organizations perform regular asset inventories, but only 13% can do so continuously 47% still rely on manual processes 41% say incomplete asset inventories are among their top barriers to managing cyber risk Risk Prioritization Needs to be a Business Conversation, Not a Technical One Another illusion that persists is the idea that all risks can and should be patched. The longstanding practice of prioritizing vulnerabilities based solely on severity is no longer sufficient. The industry looks to be grasping the fact that risk prioritization needs to go beyond single scoring methods like CVSS alone, with 68% of respondents using integrated risk scoring combining threat intelligence or using cyber risk quantification with forecasted loss estimates to prioritize risk mitigation actions. However, these next data points show that the industry still has some way to go: Nearly one in five (19%) of organizations continue to rank vulnerabilities using a single score like CVSS alone Just 18% update asset risk profiles monthly Reporting Risk in Business Terms, Not Security Jargon Executives do not want to hear how many vulnerabilities have been patched. They want to understand what the organization stands to lose, and what's being done to protect it. Yet the study finds that while 90% of organizations report cyber-risk findings to the board: Only 18% use integrated risk scenarios Just 14% tie risk reports to financial quantification Business stakeholders are only involved less than half the time (43%) And only 22% include finance teams in cyber risk discussions 'The key takeaway from the research isn't just that cyber risk is rising. It's that current methods are not effectively reducing that risk by prioritizing the actions that would make the greatest impact to risk reduction, tailored to the business. Every business is unique; hence, each risk profile and risk management program should also look unique to the organization. Static assessments, siloed telemetry, and CVSS-based prioritization have reached their limit,' commented Mayuresh Ektare, Vice President, Product Management, Enterprise TruRisk Management, Qualys. 'To address this, forward-leaning teams are adopting a Risk Operations Center (ROC) model: a technical framework that continuously correlates vulnerability data, asset context, and threat exposure under a single operational view. The ROC model provides a proven path forward for organizations ready to manage cyber risk the way the business understands it and expects it to be managed,' Ektare continued. Below are some recommendations to help businesses better align cybersecurity risk with business priorities: Business risk is all about context. In order to have a good understanding of organizational risk, a business first needs to understand what their business-critical assets are, then understand their risk factors or threats as it relates to those crown jewel assets. Without this context, vulnerabilities or threats are just information. If everything is critical, nothing is. Prioritizing risks is paramount as organizations do not have unlimited resources. In order to be capitally efficient, companies need to spend as little as possible to avoid the largest possible amount of risk. Whatever is not mitigated through technology represents risk that needs to be accepted, or transferred to cyber insurance. To get a good read of the cyber-risks across the enterprise, organizations need a diverse telemetry of risk signals. Organizations can't rely on just one — such as scanning for vulnerabilities — instead, companies need visibility into their application security, identity security stack, and more, every part of the enterprise that is exposing your attack surface. Instead of focusing on reactive incident response — for example with a SIEM or a SOC — organizations need a better system that proactively looks to predict risks and works to reduce the likelihood of an event happening by implementing a Risk Operations Center (ROC). This approach to risk management helps leaders make better, more informed decisions based on their unique business context. Organizations need to overhaul the way they are communicating cyber-risk to the board. Integrated risk scenarios that focus on business-impacting processes, such as how investments and insurance impact risk, will be the future of 'business-oriented' risk reporting, and much more effective at the purpose of communicating to board members.
Forbes
17-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Silent Risks In The Boardroom: Why Board Self-Evaluations Matter More Than Ever
Silent Risks in the Boardroom Most director resignations are a routine part of an ongoing board refreshment process that takes place at a relatively tempered pace. But some resignations are abrupt and noisy, as illustrated by a recent exit at Harley-Davidson. That situation is a great example of governance issues escaping the boardroom into press headlines, impacting public trust and market value. But do boardroom dynamics need to breakdown like this? No. When boards treat self-evaluations as a strategic priority, they're better positioned to identify and address issues before they blow up the boardroom. Board Evaluations Are More Than Just Compliance Exercises Board evaluations are widely practiced. They are required of NYSE-listed companies and most Nasdaq-listed companies do them as well. However, not all board evaluation processes are particularly meaningful. Many boards still treat them as compliance exercises rather than real opportunities to improve board processes. As a result, they often miss the mark. According to PwC's 2024 Annual Corporate Directors Survey, 35% said their assessments were too much of a check-the-box exercise. This passive approach means that board refreshment is more about age and tenure than driven by performance. In Agenda's Q1 2025 Directors' and Officers' Outlook Survey, most boards cited retirement age or term limits, not skills gaps or performance, as the reason for turnover. Indeed, there is a clear reluctance in boardrooms to provide personalized feedback. Only 26% said skills gaps would influence refreshment, and a mere 3% cited performance as a driver for board refreshment. Spencer Stuart's 2024 Board Index, which focuses on S&P 500 boards, found similar results, reporting that only 47% include individual director assessments. Making The Most Of The Evaluation Process There is no one-size-fits all way to conduct board evaluations. The key to choosing the right type of evaluation is a high degree of self-awareness and honesty about what is likely to work best for the individual board members involved in the board evaluation process. In the best case, a board's chairman or lead director will be able to assess what would work for a board in any given board evaluation cycle. This might include asking fellow board members what they feel would be helpful . . . and paying attention not just to the words, but also the tone and body language when board members respond. What follows are some questions that might guide a board's evaluation process. Note: using the same process every time tends to diminish the process's effectiveness. Consider making changes from time to time. At What Level Should The Evaluation Take Place? CII (the Council of Institutional Investors) recommends in its policies on corporate governance that boards conduct evaluations at the board, committee and individual director levels. And while many boards do at least one of those, relatively few go all the way. According to ESGauge data reported by Agenda, just 52.4% of S&P 500 companies conducted evaluations across all three dimensions in 2024, up only slightly from 51.4% the year before. There are, of course, good reasons some boards decline to conduct individual evaluations. Some boards fear that individual feedback could become political. Others argue that the board functions as a group and should be assessed as such. Consider, too, that individual evaluations are inevitably both hugely time-consuming and intrusive. Bluntly, they are the colonoscopy of board evaluations—perhaps worth doing sometimes but surely not required every time. Who Should Lead The Board Evaluation? Who leads the evaluation process matters. Often, it's the general counsel, the chair of the nominating and governance committee or the board chair. Some boards turn to third-party consultants or legal counsel, especially when tensions exist or feedback could become sensitive. There are pros and cons to internal and external approaches. Insiders often understand board culture and personalities better, which can lead to deeper insights. But that may also introduce blind spots. When trust is low and board dynamics are strained, insiders tend to be less effective compared to an outside facilitator who can offer neutrality. Some boards prefer that counsel conduct the evaluations in order to maintain attorney-client privilege. However, this only works if the purpose for involving counsel is to obtain legal advice. How Transparent Should The Process Be? In most cases, board evaluations are about ensuring that a well-functioning board remains that way. It's perfectly acceptable to state that things seem fine; we want to ensure that's true. A good board evaluation benefits from everyone understanding that it's OK to mention relatively small things, e.g., 'I don't get enough airtime' or 'I feel that we call questions too quickly/not quickly enough.' The spirit here is that tackling small things keeps them from becoming big issues later. On the other hand, your board may be using the evaluation process as a way to retire board members whose skills are no longer relevant to the company. In this case, it is best to be upfront about this. It's not easy to reach consensus that the board needs new skills and wants to implement a fair process to discern who is staying, but the outcomes will ultimately be better in the long run. Consider, too, that when boards intentionally tie evaluation results to refreshment planning, they are better positioned to fill expertise gaps and align with company strategy. What about people not in the boardroom like investors? Investors don't expect boards to disclose every detail of an evaluation, but they do want to know that an effective process is in place. Board Evaluations Are A Risk Mitigation Tool No one wants to serve on a board whose governance failures make headlines. One way to avoid this is to take corporate hygiene, especially board evaluations, seriously. Effective board evaluations can lead to robust discussions that help surface friction and disagreements in a constructive way. This is surely a better process than letting things fester, which only leads to turmoil that distracts management and ultimately may destroy shareholder value.
