The Chair Suite

Today, the chair’s job is more challenging than ever, and there is no playbook. A lot is riding on you. As the chair, you set the foundation for effective board performance and, ultimately, organizational success.

Let WATSON’s Chair Suite help you:

• Set the right tone at the top
• Elevate your board’s performance
• Stay abreast of leading governance practices

The challenges facing chairs are unique and best understood by, and shared with, other chairs. WATSON’s Chair Suite provides a confidential venue for you to do just that, to share experiences and uncover ways to optimize your personal contribution and elevate your board’s performance.

Tackling real-life issues making the news and impacting boards, a WATSON governance expert will moderate this one-of-a-kind program that brings chairs together to leverage the collective knowledge around the table. Our facilitated approach allows frank and open peer exchange of real boardroom challenges. Tools, proven techniques, and WATSON’s expertise ensures you make use of leading practices as a chair and provide real value for the organizations you help govern.

This is not theory; this is real life.

WATSON Partners with Family Enterprise Exchange: Leading Family Enterprise Through COVID and Beyond

This time of challenge and change is also a powerful learning opportunity for family enterprises and their leaders. Join FEX, WATSON and our family enterprise panelists as we learn from the experiences of family enterprise leaders, the findings from the Family Business Pulse Survey, and emerging insight into what has helped leaders and businesses survive and thrive. We’re looking forward to a conversation with our panellists and with you - positioning family enterprise to strengthen as we move forward.

We’ll explore:

• What the Family Business Pulse Survey tells us about the experiences and takeaways for family enterprises during COVID
• The experiences of our panellists - challenges, leadership, and lessons learned
• Recent research and findings around leaders and leadership teams that perform well through the challenge, change and opportunity - and implications for a family business context
• Your questions and the contributions not only of our panellists but of our family enterprise community participants

Date: October 22, 2020

• Start Time: 1:00 PM Eastern/ 10:00 AM Pacific

WATSON Webinar: The Critical Board-CEO-Executive Dynamic: Experiences from the Front Line

The dynamic duo of board and management is critical to an organization’s effective functioning, and critical to its success.

In this unique relationship, these two groups must balance alignment and collaboration with the need for clear boundaries between operations and oversight.

It’s not as easy as it sounds, especially when organizations are experiencing the stresses of challenge and opportunity.

Join our seasoned panel - we look forward to formally announcing them in the next few days - of experienced executives, directors and advisors, as they share their unvarnished stories and experience from both sides of this dynamic.

We will explore:

• What makes for an effective relationship between Boards, CEOs and executives?
• What are the practices, boundaries and dynamics that make a difference?
• Where do the cracks tend to appear under strain? What are the pitfalls to watch out for?
• How do you adjust the dynamic when you need to, whether to respond to a short-term situation or address an issue?

Boards and executive teams are under significant pressure right now. In times of uncertainty, relationships, communications, and lines of accountability are tested and strained - and can fray.

Join us to learn how you can strengthen your relationship and be better prepared to face the coming months of pandemic recovery – and build a strong organization for the long term.

Have a burning governance question related to our topic that's been keeping you up at night? Let us know at letwatsonhelpyou@watsoninc.ca, and we'll do our best to answer it during the webinar.

Date: October 28, 2020

• Start Time: 1:00 PM Eastern/ 10:00 AM Pacific
• End Time: 2:00 PM Eastern/ 11:00 AM Pacific
  • 30 minutes may be added for additional Q&A