Practicing What He Preaches

Proving that no good deed goes unpunished, Chairman Emeritus and CEO Emeritus of AT Kearney Fred G. Steingraber became president of his village of Kenilworth last spring.  Little did he know that problems with transformers exacerbated by turbulent summer thunderstorms would wipe out electricity for extended periods in this elite North Shore village. Not only did Steingraber return every irate citizen’s phone call but he used the web in addition to newsletters to communicate what he, the town staff and ComEd were doing about the problem. In setting up a town meeting with ComEd, he scheduled it for October , not only to give ComEd time to resolve some of the issues but to enable all interested citizens to attend without having to readjust their August vacation schedules. Continue reading

Making the Most of 24 Hours

Directors unanimously agree, the pre-board package is bigger than ever before:  There’s more  reading. The detail is more dense. And, the issue of risk permeates every subject.  Is it any wonder that both the length and number of board meetings has increased for many boards?

What were once all day meetings three or four times a year–or 24 hours– have now expanded.  There are more meetings, more telephonic meetings, and many more formerly unheard of one-on-one inter-meeting calls with individual directors. Continue reading