Investors continue to press boards to examine their composition: Does your board diversity support the range of challenges on the road ahead? Are director skill sets aligning with your long-term strategy? Are you telling the board's story in a way that instills investor confidence in your vision?
In this episode, next-gen director Erin Lantz, board member with TrueCar, reflects on key board responsibilities amid a landscape of increasing shareholder pressures.
As a member of the Next Gen Board Leaders, Lantz discusses the challenges of joining a board in her 30s-and how her proactive approach to forging social relationships in the boardroom has paid dividends. Host TK Kerstetter then pushes the discussion a step further to glean Lantz's perspective on board diversity and shareholder engagement. As an executive with Zillow Group, she regularly interacts with investors on the management side-an experience she believes enhances her interactions from the board side:
[blockquote source="Erin Lantz, Board Member, TrueCar"]Provided that there [are] clear policies around the topics and frequency at which board members are expected to engage with investors, I think a proactive approach to engaging with investors is really healthy. In both contexts, I find that those conversations with investors help push my thinking of the issues at hand. I think they also give [me] an opportunity to have more nuanced conversations with investors that better explain the board's thinking about a particular issue.[/blockquote] ''
Ultimately our interests should be aligned,'' stressed Lantz of investors and board members. ''We're out there to serve the shareholders... [H]aving that mindset [of] engagement-rather than avoidance-is going to be more productive and will set us up for better outcomes.''
In this episode, next-gen director Erin Lantz, board member with TrueCar, reflects on key board responsibilities amid a landscape of increasing shareholder pressures.
As a member of the Next Gen Board Leaders, Lantz discusses the challenges of joining a board in her 30s-and how her proactive approach to forging social relationships in the boardroom has paid dividends. Host TK Kerstetter then pushes the discussion a step further to glean Lantz's perspective on board diversity and shareholder engagement. As an executive with Zillow Group, she regularly interacts with investors on the management side-an experience she believes enhances her interactions from the board side:
[blockquote source="Erin Lantz, Board Member, TrueCar"]Provided that there [are] clear policies around the topics and frequency at which board members are expected to engage with investors, I think a proactive approach to engaging with investors is really healthy. In both contexts, I find that those conversations with investors help push my thinking of the issues at hand. I think they also give [me] an opportunity to have more nuanced conversations with investors that better explain the board's thinking about a particular issue.[/blockquote] ''
Ultimately our interests should be aligned,'' stressed Lantz of investors and board members. ''We're out there to serve the shareholders... [H]aving that mindset [of] engagement-rather than avoidance-is going to be more productive and will set us up for better outcomes.''
