Essential reading to keep you informed
In the library you will find news, information and guides from Spectrum. Also our Board Chair Report, based on Spectrum’s research of the views and experiences of board chairs, investors and CEOs in fast growth, privately held businesses.
We have also included published information from other organisations which we found to be particularly interesting and relevant, and that we hope you enjoy reading.
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Spectrum Founder and Managing Partner, Daniel Osmer, recently took part in an interview with Andrea Petrone. Daniel was asked to provide his perspective about the main challenges for tech entrepreneurs, finding and hiring the best talent and how to develop their own leadership.
Five years in to McKinsey’s research, we’ve seen more women rise to the top levels of companies. Yet women continue to be underrepresented at every level.
It is only by achieving the optimal balance between humans and machines that Boards can navigate the future of work.
Did you receive the Autumn edition of our Quarterly Update containing Spectrum’s latest news, views and current search mandates?
Daniel joined about 100 other cyclists on 5-7 September in Normandy, France to raise funds for SSAFA: a British charity which does great work providing support to its forces veterans – and their families – whenever and wherever they need it.
If you ask working women with families why they step off the leadership track, it’s often not just because of what happens at the office. Rather, it’s because of the combined effect of their daytime…
As a startup, it’s hard to negotiate customer contracts because you’re not yet established or trusted in the marketplace, so customers are taking on the risk. Many founders therefore make the mistake of being overly…
Ignition Financial’s Report looks at how an eventful first half of 2019 has seen some key events that could mark a turning point for the start-up/VC ecosystem as we know it.
The 10,000-hour rule says intense, dedicated practice makes perfect – at that one thing. But what if breadth actually serves us better than depth? The challenge we all face is how to maintain the benefits…
Fifty leading female professionals from Black, Asian and other Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are highlighted in the 2019 Women to Watch supplement, published annually by Cranfield University’s School of Management alongside the Female FTSE Board…
Large companies devote plenty of attention and resources to succession planning, yet a PwC study finds that $112 billion in shareholder value is lost annually because companies pick the wrong people to lead them. The “obvious” choice…
Welcome to the Summer 2019 issue of the Spectrum Quarterly. Stay up-to-date with Spectrum’s latest case studies, events and news here: Quarterly Update. If you would like to be added to our mailing list to receive…
“I’m doing the right thing because I sleep better at night,” says an exhausted-sounding Julian Richer, after a momentous week in which he won plaudits for handing control of his Richer Sounds business to staff.
For once though, the entrepreneur’s good deeds have cost him sleep. The 60-year-old has been up all night after being engulfed in a media storm after the Guardian revealed he had transferred 60% of his shares to a John Lewis-style trust.
Should the Government think about an ambitious plan to bring more BAME minorities, (BAME – Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic, used to refer to members of non-white communities in the UK) into Britain’s boardrooms?
The aim could be for one in five directors of FTSE 100 companies to be from a BAME background. Lord Davies’ review into women in the boardroom, which began in 2011 and has had some success in increasing the numbers of women in senior business roles.
But is this a good thing and do we need quotas?
A lot of companies struggle with two apparently unrelated problems: disengaged younger workers and a weak response to changing market conditions.
A few companies have tackled both problems at the same time by creating a “shadow board” — a group of non-executive employees that works with senior executives on strategic initiatives.
Each company has its own “culture” – the values and norms that define what is and isn’t appropriate behavior for the organization. Culture guides how you work, and a healthy one enables companies to attract and retain highly motivated employees and unite them around a common goal, purpose, or cause in pursuit of sustainable performance.
No one has a bigger impact on new employees’ success than the managers who hired them. Why? Because more than anyone else the hiring manager understands what his or her people need to accomplish and what it will take — skills, resources, connections — for them to become fully effective.
Strong value creation in the TMT sector benefits the overall economy, as technology and digitization pervade even the most basic industries. Digitization is creating the same sort of fundamental shift that occurred a century ago with electrification, only exponentially faster.
The transition from executive to non-executive is a particularly interesting one – one which requires an evolution from a leadership role to one requiring stewardship, guidance and, perhaps most important, mediation – aligning the interests of key stakeholders.
Companies increasingly rely on diverse, multidisciplinary teams that combine the collective capabilities of women and men, people of different cultural heritage, and younger and older workers. But simply throwing a mix of people together doesn’t guarantee high performance; it requires inclusive leadership — leadership that assures that all team members feel they are treated respectfully and fairly, are valued and sense that they belong, and are confident and inspired.