EYE OPENER
On the evening of 2 March I was invited to an Appointments Commission Reception for potential non-executive directors having been put onto a NED ‘talent pool list’. Great Hall at 1 Great George Street, Westminster is another beautiful over-stuffed colonial pile.
As I’ve already held four public appointments, the process is already a familiar one, however it was a great opportunity to network with a new group of folks and discuss and / or share our experiences. I also took the opportunity to peruse NED opportunities in government departments other than the Dept of Health.
It was a very well run evening and the canapés were to ‘die-for’ and I was certain that I’d stuffed an inordinate amount of teeny-pizzas-topped-with-weenie-tomatoes.
The two keynote speakers spoke of their experiences:
- Sir David Nicholson CBE, Chief Executive of the NHS in England talked about the challenges of public expectations and the huge financial pressures facing the NHS with years of yet more efficiency savings combined with a standstill budget. He also talked about Stafford NHS hospital trust and the role of the Board and NEDs in particular in being vigilant in challenging poor performance.
- Sahar Hashemi, founder of Coffee Republic & Director of 'Corporates for Crisis’ was very interesting as she laid out the lessons she learned on her journey of a germ of an idea to a successful business empire. She was funny, candid and very open about the joys and pitfalls of business leadership
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