Hurd and his predecessor, Carly Fiorina, who was also fired by the board, brought new meaning to the HP Way.  Certainly, it was a different company than when brilliant engineers and founders William Hewlett and David Packard were at work in the company. Their instinctive style of “managing by walking around” would be almost impossible to replicate. Fiorina, ambitious and eager to make her mark aggressively drove the Compaq merger while a subplot revealed that the HP board had its own problems as chairwoman Patricia Dunn stepped down facing felony charges. After the scandal, Hurd’s success was welcomed even if he took a cost-cutting and execution style approach to management.

With Hurd occupying both the Chairman and CEO role, Robert Ryan has served as lead director since 2008.  But it has been Mark Andreessen handling the Hurd resignation.  As the founder of another storied company, Andreessen has the gravitas to insist on a leader that not only performs well but behaves well.

Andreessen is given to greater transparency as well as sensitivity to culture and a larger group of stakeholders including investors, employees and the larger public given that he is an under-40 wildly successful entrepreneur now leading a company that provides a platform for social networking websites.

Andreessen is the spark that HP needs at this time, setting the tone and communicating what the board is doing on behalf of shareholders and stakeholders.

“I have never had a shareholder group ask something that was inappropriate,” said Hill. “They are aware of Regulation FD. We may not always agree but I think it’s very important to listen and sometimes  agree to disagree. We have learned so much from talking to shareholders.  It’s made us better directors.

Her earliest meetings with shareholders came about because of shareholder issues or concerns. Now,  the company talks with shareholders when they want input. For example, when the Home Depot board was working on director succession plans, they contacted long term large shareholders for candidates to consider.

“We found that amazingly helpful, said CalSTRS Anne Sheehan.  “It demystifies the process, which enables us to better support the company’s long-term objectives.”

Such proactive work has accrued to the company’s benefit.  “When you are in reactive mode, it is so much more time consuming, ” said Hill. With a more open dialogue, Hill says the board has more time to spend on strategy and other key issues. And it has added to a positive reputation for the board and the company.