Webinar Replay - Refreshing the Board: Age or Term Limits, Skillsets and the Hard Conversation
Join directors Margaret Pederson and Jim Locker, and Diligent Corporation's Jeffrey Powell, for a webinar on
Refreshing the Board: Age or Term Limits, Skillsets and the Hard Conversation
(This webinar may be viewed on desktop, laptop and tablet devices.)
Refreshing the board constitutes one of the most important – and one of the most difficult – tasks facing any group of directors. The need to refresh the board may be precipitated by any number of factors: retirement of a director, a mismatch of talents and expertise vis-à-vis current and anticipated needs and challenges, the unexpected retirement or removal of a director, challenges to specific directors from activist shareholders and investors, the list goes on and on.
Board refreshment addresses both capabilities and culture, with an eye to maximizing the capacity of the board to add value while maintaining critical independent oversight. Enlightened boards dissect strategy and decide what skills are needed in existing and new directors to drive the company forward. They match up the criteria for new board candidates against evolving strategy and market concerns.
What are the drivers for board refreshment? Can age or term limits be effective? Do directors understand the need for rigorous and periodic assessment for their skills and “fit,” even beyond self-evaluation? Does rotation of committee and board leadership yield fresh insights and new perspectives valuable to the business while maintaining an existing slate of directors?
When everybody is on the same page, the board can deliver true value to management as it becomes more and more effective in refreshing the talent that monitors strategy and delivers results.
Margaret Pederson
Director, Viad, Xamax Industries, TextureMedia
Margaret Pederson is a Board member of Viad, Xamax Industries and TextureMedia. One company is public and two are private; each serves a different market, revenues range from early stage to billion dollars plus and the challenges and opportunities each faces are unique. She is also a Managing Director in Golden Seeds, an investment group which funds early and growth stage companies; her focus there is in Media and Technology, notably those with disruptive products and services. Pederson is also President of Amirexx, a boutique consulting firm that works with countries, companies and associations to transform their businesses into more relevant, growth oriented and profitable enterprises. Pederson’s expertise is in transforming companies working with the Board and management to develop new businesses, reposition mature products and services, create and implement a digital strategy, innovate using new technology and increase profits through revised marketing, more efficient processes and select cost containment.
Viad provides diversified and marketing services in North America, Europe, UK and Middle East as well as travel and recreation experiences and operations. Xamax Industries is a global manufacturer supplying innovative, engineering-driven, patent-protected solutions for electrical, electronic, beauty and medical products. TextureMedia is a social media and e-commerce company engaging across online, mobile and social; it links beauty brands and publishers with consumers via advertising, sponsorship, social commerce, events and research.
Jim Locker
Managing Principal, CenterPoint Partners
Jim Locker is Managing Principal at CenterPoint Partners. CenterPoint focuses on improving the bottom line performance of privately-owned companies in consumer and industrial durable products and B2B/C services. He has also mentored high tech ventures through the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute.
Jim has served on the boards of eight privately owned companies, and currently serves on the board of two private equity companies: environmental remediation systems and pipe cutting equipment. Another board position ended in 2014 when the company was sold to investors.
In the past year, he has consulted for a CT-based regional bank, a CT-based precision packaging equipment company and the lubrication services division of a multi-national industrial business.
Previously, Mr. Locker was Operating Partner for Linx Partners, a private equity firm. He served on three boards: and interacted with management in setting strategic direction, product development, pricing, working capital management, and factory floor improvement.
Mr. Locker’s prior career spans a wide range of product sectors, from consumer durable products to capital equipment industries; he has sold and sourced worldwide for leading retail, industrial and OEM customers, e.g., Target, Home Depot, Walgreens, Grainger and Caterpillar.
Jim’s underlying experience comes from positions in leading consumer and industrial durable product and B2B/C service companies, including GE and Danaher. Mr. Locker has also consulted for large companies and small companies in lean practices, supply chain management, strategy development, product marketing, and customer relationship projects.
He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, and a BE (Mechanical Engineering) from City College of New York.
Jeffry Powell
Executive Vice President, Diligent Corporation
Jeffry Powell serves as Diligent Corporation’s Executive Vice President of Sales, where he is responsible for the development and execution of client acquisition strategies throughout the Americas. Throughout his five years with Diligent, Jeffry has advised thousands of companies across industries including banking, energy, higher education and health care on how secure, electronic access to board materials can improve organizational effectiveness and governance.
In addition to more than 15 years of sales experience, Jeffry also worked for 12 years as a founder, board member and officer of a commercial translation agency. This deep familiarity with both the sales and executive management of growing organizations has enabled him to become expert in critical governance issues. Jeff frequently contributes thought leadership and appears at both governance-related and vertical market events to discuss board portal adoption and implementation best practices. He is also a member of both the Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals and the Canadian Society of Corporate Secretaries.
Peter Begalla
Conference and Education Director, Directors & Boards
Peter Begalla is a family business owner, Directors & Boards' Conference and Education Director, and Adjunct Professor with Stetson University's Family Enterprise Center. He is at the forefront of Next Generation Leadership Development, having helped hundreds of college-aged students establish credibility and marketability with their family, with their family businesses or with non-family employers. He combines years of counseling experience with over 10 years of business development and marketing experience in online education.
- 60 minutes--maximum value for time
- Completely free to attend
- Time for questions and comments
- All participants receive a copy of the webinar materials after the event
- Unbiased third party director education
