On Wednesday 22 February 2023 the Non-Executive Directors’ Association (‘NEDA’) and WTW hosted the annual NED Debate, in association with CMS and sponsored by Georgeson.
THE DEBATE MOTION
“This House believes good Chairmen are born, not made”
In adopting the ‘debate format’ it was recognised that there is a close parallel between a debate and a boardroom. In each situation, there must be careful listening, respect for the opposing view and an atmosphere of constructive challenge to allow insights to fully develop. A good decision will hopefully result through the examination of alternative approaches.
The Debaters, noted above, provided a lively, interactive session with an indicative vote on the Motion at each end of the formal debating process. The session was chaired by Barry Gamble, himself an experienced company chairman, and included a lot of insight, comment and views expressed from the Floor. [Note: this was not a Q&A session and consequently was a different experience to that of a normal Panel session].
On this occasion the votes before and after the debate were characterised by a dramatic swing having been swayed by both the Proposer Team and by the views and perspectives presented by participants from the Floor.
The voting results on the proposed Motion were:
Before the Debate:
For: 7%; Against: 92%; Abstentions: 1%
After the Debate:
For: 35%; Against: 50%; Abstentions: 15%
A full report of the NED Debate will be published in due course.
The Debate in full flow with Page and Justin (Proposing); Barry (The Chairman); Richard and Shefaly (Opposing).
The Debate Chairman, Debater Teams and Sponsor Representatives from NEDA, WTW, CMS and Georgeson.