https://www.broadridge.com/_assets/pdf/broadridge-vasm-guide.pdf

New technology brings us new challenges in extending our reach and increasing our transparency.  I’m proud to have served on the committee updating the virtual annual shareowner meeting.

#corpgov

Voice of the Director_Spring 2018

In our fast-moving world, my best wisdom is to have a network and community that helps you think and re-think what you know.  I am very grateful to the leadership at the NACD Southern California chapter for advancing the dialogue with boardroom peers. The more I ask questions and listen, the more I learn.

I think you’ll enjoy my recent Directorship 2020 article on Navigating Information Technology in the Boardroom by Dean Yoost.  The ability to anticipate risk from inside and outside the business is an essential survival tool for the 21st century.

Do let me know how you are building your network and adding to your community. #corpgov

Our CEO, Fay Feeney was honored with the 2017 American Society of Safety Engineers highest honor from her peers, The Fellow.  In addition, Fay is a NACD Board Leadership Fellow.

ASSE 2017 Fellow Fay Feeney, CSP, ARM

Fay’s Fellow Speech

I love safety, let me repeat that, I LOVE safety.

Being named a Fellow means the world to me. Safety is at the foundation of meaningful lives and safety professionals are uniquely qualified to be stewards of workplace safety.

I’m named after my mother’s mother, Bubbee Fagel. She came to America as a young widow with seven children, she knew safety. I’m proud to carry on her legacy

Huge thanks to my petition sponsor, Mike Murray and thanks to all who shared this idea that I could model leadership for our next gen by becoming the fourth female Fellow.

To my handsome husband Don, thanks babe. Your sacrifice of our time enabled this achievement. To my own next gen, my great-niece Charlotte Fay, along with her parents, Meredith and Knolan – thanks for being in the audience today.

Let’s talk about you and your role in making work safe for people. For those who speak to hard hats, I admire you. My career has been in conference rooms speaking to hard heads.

Our business value in a rapidly changing world requires anticipating new risks. We must now integrate a strategic risk approach along with compliance assurance. We do so by listening to all views, including opposing ones.

I urge you to connect your safety efforts to equality of opportunity. Right the wrongs of the system in building an inclusive, safe culture that provides a fair process for all. Be the voice with leadership making a business case for investing in people or as investors call us, human capital.

I ask you to See Something, Say Something, Do Something.

And as a past ASSE Foundation board chair, I challenge you to invest in the future of our profession by giving to the ASSE Foundation.

Let’s move the needle and “make the world of work safer, healthier and sustainable.” Thank you.

As a safety professional it is an honor to be published in the ASSE Professional Safety Journal, June 2016.

Briefing the Boardroom on OSH Feeney_0616

Directorship 2020® is a NACD National initiative created to help directors identify and prepare for shifting issues and opportunities that boards will have to address in the future. Technology is and will continue to be an item that directors must understand in order to drive strategic change in their companies.

When it comes to technology, the boardroom has been learning a new language: mobile, social, cloud, cyber security, digital disruption and more. Recently the NACD released an eight-part video series on the board’s role: The Intersection of Technology, Strategy, and Risk.

We have spent much of the past year focused on cyber security, an essential discussion given the widespread theft of intellectual property, privacy invasions and data breaches. A report on cyber crime and espionage by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C. last year estimated that cybercrime costs the global economy $300 billion a year – an entire industry is growing around hacking! Research by PwC shows cyber insurance is the fastest growing specialty coverage ever – worth around $1.3 billion a year in the US.

As our boardroom agendas often get filled with discussions on risk, I asked Frontier Communications board director Larraine Segil how to shift the conversation to strategy. Larraine has a keen focus on opportunity and suggested we delve into solutions for governing “The Internet of Things (IoT)”. My favorite part of sitting on the NACD SoCal board with Larraine is her interest in what is emerging on the business horizon.

As a director it is critical to be educated constantly about new trends, products and opportunities – competition is fast moving and customers are better educated about their options than ever before.  Strategically the board has to think way ahead of the present status quo – and with the help of management and outside domain experts, explore opportunities for alliances.

This requires using strategic analysis at every board meeting (not just at one offsite a year) and welcoming constant director education and brainstorming both within and outside of the company’s industry. The board should continually identify and evaluate strategic directions to keep the company ‘fresh’ and nimble.

What exactly is the “Internet of Things” and what are the implications for business strategy? Think about connecting any device with an on and off switch to the Internet and/or to each other. This includes everything from cell phones, thermostats, and washing machines to headphones, cameras, wearable devices and much more.

This also applies to components of machines – for example, the jet engine of an airplane. If the device has an on and off switch then chances are it can be a part of the IoT.

The technology research firm Gartner says that by 2020 there will be over 26 billion connected devices. Think about Uber, the company that connects a physical asset (car & driver) to a person in need of a ride via a website. That simple connection has disrupted the taxi industry.

AirBnB has done the same for the lodging industry by directly connecting people with spaces to rent to those in need of accommodations. What does this mean to for our companies? Larraine, what are you thinking when you hear about the IoT for business opportunities? [Read more…]