Emma Coombe

And that often begins before you officially step up into the role.

Indeed, it should have happened as part of a very well-structured interview process, but we know that isn't always the case.

And there are often too many things at play to really understand where different board members are coming from.

We'd now like to welcome Anita Wingrove, Leadership Advisor in Russell Reynolds Associates Melbourne office into the conversation.

Anita, welcome to the Leadership Lounge.

Now, Anita, I know many leaders will be thinking, OK, but what exactly should I be seeking to understand from the board before I even begin as a CEO?

Can you share some of your advice here?

There's so much in what you've said that resonates with what I'm hearing from CEOs, Anita, especially your point about context.

And of course, boards come in such different shapes and sizes.

Private equity boards are often quite small.

They will have independents or maybe investors with deep industry experience.

And so CEOs, in my experience, need to have an abundant amount of humility and resilience.

to be able to work effectively in that context.

Publicly listed businesses have much larger boards and they have a whole range of different requirements in order to make sure the committees are properly chaired, to have the right diversity of thoughts and perspectives.

And so with public company boards, because of the range of perspective, it's so important to understand one-on-one where people are coming from.

Rusty, I'd now like to turn back to you.

Beyond the fundamentals Anita just talked about, what can a new CEO tangibly do to clarify what the board truly expects from them?

And how should the CEO share their own agenda too?

That prioritization piece is really crucial.

And do you have any examples, Rusty, of where a CEO has clarified what is important in a really effective way?