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It begins with trust. We take great pride in the level of trust we have established over the years with the corporations, and the executives, we have advised. Our reputation enables unique access to boardrooms, and directors, who know we will always have their best interest in mind. It is this privileged access that provides us with unprecedented knowledge and insight regarding the issues of greatest importance to America’s boards.
The performance of America’s corporate boards, and their directors, continues to be a subject of great interest to the investor community. We all wish to believe the process by which directors are selected is the result of an optimal matching of director skills and board needs. However, this may be an overly optimistic expectation.
Recognizing that America’s most accomplished executives (CEOs and their direct reports) are generally limited to one outside board, we innovated our unique BoardSelect® advisory service in 2006 to allow them to proactively select that singular board. Our client executives save precious time that others spend networking with professional contacts, cultivating awareness with executive search firms, and hoping that the phone will ring with an opportunity.
BoardSelect® capitalizes on our corporate governance knowledge and the extensive network of relationships at the boardroom level that we have established over the years. Our BoardSelect® clients are discreetly considered by the boards identified as particularly well-suited to the executive’s professional objectives, as well as the strategic priorities of his/her company. Our ultimate objective is to enhance the director/board matching process and thereby elevate the quality of corporate governance in America’s boardrooms.
The selection of a new board director is an important and delicate task. If not done well, the repercussions can be significant.
DirectorSelect® provides a significant advancement in the sophistication of the director assessment process.
Since inception, JamesDruryPartners has refined the process by which potential directors can be assessed – combining the art of the in-depth interview with the science of diagnostic assessment. DirectorSelect®, our proprietary director assessment model, draws upon three critical dimensions of our firm’s vast experience: the professional insight gained in recruiting and placing board directors; the wisdom of our advisory board of 30 of America’s most distinguished directors; and the discipline associated with our world-class, diagnostic assessment technology, Director Assessment, developed in exclusive partnership with Hogan Assessment Systems, drawing upon their many years of leadership assessment experience.
The ability to competently analyze the capability of a potential new director is critical. The consequences of making a mistake in selecting a director can be dire. While a board may nominate a new director, technically speaking it is the shareholders who elect the director. And, while a board may encourage an underperforming director to step down, he or she may not consent to do so; only the shareholders can remove a director. As a result, a board may be saddled with a problem director until his or her term of service ends.
Director Assessment provides a significant advancement in the sophistication of the director assessment process. It provides a comprehensive methodology to calibrate objectively the softer director attributes, both the obvious and less obvious, that are most highly correlated with effective performance in the boardroom. Director Assessment will help minimize the probability of making a mistake.
On select occasions, we are retained by corporate boards to recruit one or more new directors. These clients are often companies that know us well and are aware of the long-standing relationships we have established with America's boards and their directors. They recognize our unique ability to "source" for director candidates who are considered to be the best of all possibilities, not simply those who are well-known and readily accessible.
Our BoardSelect® clients, seeking board service, are among America's most accomplished and valuable executives. As corporations and investment firms plan public spin-outs and IPOs, we are pleased to assess the fit of our clients' backgrounds with the director specifications being sought. Our exclusive network of executive talent often enables the election of several executives as "anchor directors" early in the process. We have meaningful relationships with a number of private equity firms to provide such counsel.
As is true in other aspects of our lives, periodic health examinations for boards is a best practice. Some boards adhere to the less intrusive process of director “self-evaluation”; others embrace a more comprehensive process involving not only a director self-evaluation, but also peer evaluations and a full board evaluation. Such examinations facilitated by an independent third party can protect the confidentiality of director input, thereby encouraging honesty and candor. Our firm can assist in the design and facilitation of such evaluations, benefiting from our insight and perspective, working with corporate boards and directors as our singular business focus.
Our respected corporate board clients span all industry sectors, with revenues ranging from $1B to $225B, including eight Fortune 50 companies.
Should you have an interest in discussing any of our professional services, please do not hesitate to contact us.
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