CSS Director Caroline Evans writes about an important issue in Corporate Governance.

Is Simon Cowell right to be worried about the threat from ‘The Voice’?

I think he is; ‘Britain's Got Talent’ is tired and out-dated.

The BBC has not only captured The Voice, it’s captured the nation’s voice or, more importantly, its mood. As I watched last weekend’s showings of The Voice I was struck not only of course by the huge talent of everyone competing but - and competing is the key word - they were competing together; the contestants had to share the floor and work with each other to be their best, proving that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Similarly the judges had to share the glory and the pain. Turning over to Britain’s Got Talent, the contrast was clear. Simon had done his best to keep up and wisely ensured that a great young talent would be the first act the channel-hopping audience saw. However, it wasn’t long before a counterpoint appeared and I was faced with the usual embarrassment of watching TV that is simply cruel and voyeuristic. The Voice is reflective a new collaborative culture; Britain’s Got Talent is the equivalent of the worst of the last decade of ruthless “every man for himself” and “laugh at the losers” style of commercial exploitation. I turned over again and found The 1970s: How did the mood of that decade compare? Who can remember?

I read in this week’s Independent on Sunday that there is a new craze sweeping America and now heading to the UK – ‘sweatworking’ – networking whilst working out!

Apparently business people are now taking their clients to the gym instead of lunch and literally sweating out the details of their contracts.

So, if your New Year resolution is to get fit, is this such a bad idea?

Whilst I appreciate gyms aren’t for everyone, Fitness First is soon to launch a structured business breakfast networking meeting at which people will have the chance to meet and greet one another, attend a spin class, and network at the juice bar. If this proves successful I suspect others will follow.

I for one would love to try it. Let’s face it, most of us battle to incorporate more exercise in to our weekly routine and we all feel the guilt when we over-indulge at the traditional ‘boozy lunch’.

To me ‘sweatworking’ offers a healthy alternative and an opportunity to engage with people on another level.

So my question to you as you read this is, ‘sweatworking: are you fit enough?’ If any of the BLT contacts want to try it, let’s give it a go, it could be a new craze for our monthly breakfast seminar!

As always this year’s ICSA Awards Ceremony was one to be remembered and we were pleased to be able to support this key industry event by sponsoring the ‘One to Watch’ award and hosting a table of fabulous guests; a big thank you to everyone who joined us!

We feel passionately about recognizing the hard work, enthusiasm and commitment of all those operating within or in support of our niche profession and would like to say well done to all of the nominees and award winners, with particular congratulations to Michelle Vassall, Chartered Secretary at Sport England for her success this year and for winning our award!

Caroline Evans proudly presents the CSS award to Michelle here, first published in the Chartered Secretary magazine January 2012 edition

Yesterday’s FT featured an article from Lucy Kellaway entitled ‘Everyone benefits from a beast in the boardroom’ and I felt I had to share.

It’s a well written, to the point and thought provoking piece which goes some way to highlighting the complex dynamics in the boardroom and it strikes me that there are compelling arguments for not just more women on boards, but more diversity generally, with a cocktail of personality types needed to ensure greatest effectiveness.

As a recruiter in the company secretarial arena I can appreciate the reference to the ‘SOB’ in Lucy’s article and hear stories of such characters every day, I thought it highlighted an important message that we should all remember: ‘It’s not personal, it’s just business!’

‘It takes all types to make the world go round’ but clearly it also takes all types to get the best out of the boardroom.