How to Build Influence as a New Non-Executive Director
By Adrian Lawrence FCA, founder of NED Capital · Part of the Board Governance Hub In short: A new non-executive director arrives with a board seat but not yet with standing — and the two are not the same. A NED has no positional authority …
8 Emerging Trends in Board-Level Recruitment for 2026
By Adrian Lawrence FCA, founder of NED Capital · Part of the Board Governance Hub In short: Board-level recruitment is being reshaped by eight structural shifts: a move from status to demonstrable skills; diversity that goes beyond box-ticking to genuine cognitive range; rising demand for …
5 Ways NEDs Improve Board Transparency and Ethics
By Adrian Lawrence FCA, founder of NED Capital · Part of the Board Governance Hub In short: Non-executive directors are structurally well-placed to strengthen a board’s transparency and ethics precisely because they sit outside day-to-day management. Five concrete ways they do it: (1) bringing independent …
7 Governance Mistakes NEDs Should Avoid
By Adrian Lawrence FCA, founder of NED Capital · Part of the Board Governance Hub In short: The most damaging non-executive director mistakes are not exotic — they are familiar failures of practice that recur on boards of every kind. The seven worth guarding against: …
When to Challenge Management’s Market-Entry Assumptions
By Adrian Lawrence FCA, founder of NED Capital · Part of the Board Governance Hub In short: A non-executive director should challenge a market-entry plan whenever its case rests on optimistic assumptions that have not been stress-tested — a single rosy forecast with no downside …
Shadow Boards: A Tool NEDs Should Take Seriously
By Adrian Lawrence FCA, founder of NED Capital · Part of the Board Governance Hub In short: A shadow board — sometimes called a next-generation or junior board — is a group of younger or more junior employees who meet in parallel with the main …
The NED’s Role in Promoting Ethical Organisational Culture
By Adrian Lawrence FCA, founder of NED Capital · Part of the Board Governance Hub In short: The ethical culture of a company — whether people do the right thing when no one is watching, and feel able to raise concerns when something is wrong …
Negotiating Board Role Terms: What NEDs Should Ask
By Adrian Lawrence FCA, founder of NED Capital · Part of the Board Governance Hub In short: Before accepting a non-executive role, a director should be clear on the terms that genuinely matter — and most of them belong in the letter of appointment. The …
Why Boards Now Demand NEDs with Cyber Risk Expertise
By Adrian Lawrence FCA, founder of NED Capital · Part of the Board Governance Hub In short: Boards now actively seek cyber capability in their non-executives for three connected reasons. First, cyber has become a board-level risk rather than an IT problem: a serious incident …
Knowing When It’s Time for a NED to Step Down Gracefully
By Adrian Lawrence FCA, founder of NED Capital · Part of the Board Governance Hub In short: Knowing when to leave is part of being a good non-executive director. The signals that it may be time are usually clear if you are honest with yourself: …
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