Education: Reality bytes the Advanced Program

AICD launched a world first – the Advanced Program in late July, using simulation, interactive techniques and small group workshops. Prerequisites for an invitation to the program are FAICD and/or graduates of the Company Directors Course plus three years experience as a director or reporting directly to a board.

The inaugural Advanced Program was held at The Observatory Hotel, Sydney, 30 July to 2 August.

These are the notes from one program participant.

Wednesday

2.30-3.30pm: Welcome and orientation. Hotel looks pretty good, haven't found the pool yet

3.30-5.30pm: Initial "board meeting" – informal getting to know individual directors, skills and aspirations. Pretty daunting lot, danced around the election of chairman. 5.16 Hotel advised my room was unserviceable (really?) so told to repack, relocate, meanwhile did impromptu press interview. 5.50 Scanned meeting papers, joined colleagues for drinks (intelligence gathering)

5.30-7.30pm: Dinner and address – a moment of sanity

7.30-9.30pm: May board meeting – strategy and focus (led by newly-elected chairman). CEO chaired elections, stunned new chairman, meeting commenced – chaotic, but established ground rules, no focus, no strategy and CEO was opaque

9.30-10pm: Preparation of business presentation to another board. Meanwhile CEO resigned and we cheered and carried on.

10-12am: Drank champagne hotel sent for the inconvenience, reread the May board papers and wrote notes – what a scramble...

Thursday

6am: Grabbed the AP Press Bulletin – no report on the loss of our CEO. But where to find a new one?

6.30-8am: Breakfast meetings and briefing. Intelligence continues, worked on invites for the corporate yacht, using battle space tactic. In the confusion forgot to invite our own crew...

8-8.45am: Workshop. Need to practise new techniques...

8.45-10.15am: Business presentation to another board, and from a separate board. Wasn't quite what we had prepared for... still haven't sorted the crews

10.15-10.45am: Evaluation of presentations. Our capable facilitator told us we had better get a strategy... meanwhile minds are spinning, press interruptions, minister's interruptions, leaked reports, no CEO, things are going downhill fast...

10.45-12.15: Seminar. A room full of knowledge...

12.15-1pm: Workshop on listening. Need to practise...

1-1.45pm: Lunch. Haven't eaten a meal yet without interruption...

1.45-5pm: Sailing. Exhilarating racing 36 foot yachts... Some got back by 4pm and wrote board strategy with colleagues, quickly found our keyboard skills... Prepared PR material

5.30-7pm: Drinks and dinner. More magnificent food, more intelligence – relieved to hear we have found a CEO from our members...

7-9.30pm: July board meeting – chairman led. Getting under control, strategy fixed, PR adjusted, new CEO in place, still issues running, issues with nominee director loyalties... Discover we desperately need a risk management plan by tomorrow.

9.30pm-12am: Wrote random risks for plan, settled agenda for next board meeting. Board members working as a great team...

Friday

6am: Grabbed AP press bulletin – mmm not too bad... Chair must spin a good story...

6.30-8am: Breakfast meetings and briefing. Discussed new initiatives papers prepared overnight for the board – great humour too...

8-10am: Seminar – covering tales from the corporate battlefield. What a minefield...

10.30-12.30pm: Seminar with Henry Bosch. Wow, a master with many apprentices...

12.30-1.30pm: Lunch. Still dealing with live issues...

1.30-6pm: September board meeting – board put auditor "Hamish Mensa" through the hoops, considered an extensive agenda with chairman magnificently in control, punctuated by interruptions, non attendance. Commenced preparation for AGM – chaos reigns...

6.30-9.30: Drinks and dinner with guest speaker. Much to reflect on... need to get a copy of that speech...

9.30-11.30pm: Preparation for AGM. Too many cooks – will this ever happen?... Soooo tired...

Saturday

6am: Grabbed AP press bulletin...journalist is now working for us... that explains the good stories...

7-8.15am: Breakfast meetings and briefing. Got to breakfast early, didn't know I could sleep in... Chaos reigns with presentation...

8.30-10am: Syndicate work – preparation for AGM presentation and assessment. 9.50 I was told that the others had decided that I would be part of the presentation team... lucky we didn't kill each other... what happened to planning and time management...?

10-12 noon: Presentations and feedback. The assessment panel reminded me of adjudicators at my childhood music eisteddfod... except I had done more practice then...

12-12.30pm: Final plenary

12.30-1.30pm: Lunch and farewells. Our final board meeting... thank you everyone... farewells... promises to keep in touch... memorable, exhilarating... Hotel was pretty good, haven't found the pool yet... need to catch flight... and do that assignment...

The next program is November 12-15 in the Yarra Valley in Victoria. For further information contact division offices or the National Office on (02) 8248 6600 or www.companydirectors.com.au

Disclaimer

The purpose of this database is to provide a full-text record of all articles that have appeared in the CDJ since February 1997. It is aimed to assist in the research and reference process. The database has a full-text index and will enable articles to be easily retrieved.It should be noted that information contained in this database is in pre-publication format only - IT IS NOT THE FINAL PRINTED VERSION OF THE CDJ - therefore there might be slight discrepancies between the contents of this database and the printed CDJ.