GAVIN PATTERSON
Chief Executive, BT Retail and Executive Director BT Group plc

“CMi provided me with invaluable support as I stepped up as an executive to the BT plc board and simultaneously joined the board of another FTSE company as a non-executive director. The key to successful mentoring is trust and personal chemistry and CMi spent time understanding my business situation, motivations and personality and used this insight to set up relationships with two mentors.

The mentors’ advice has been nothing short of excellent. Both put in significant preparation ahead of our meetings and regularly spend time outside of our formal sessions providing off line support. The face to face sessions have been full of practical, measured advice covering the full range challenges that you face maintaining a balanced work and home life.

I have no hesitation in recommending the CMi mentor programme to any aspiring or current board director.”

JULIAN WALDRON
Chief Financial Officer, Technip – formerly CFO, Thomson

“As a CFO, a large part of my time is spent with our Board. My CEO and I agreed it would make sense to receive formal training on Board matters and eventually seek out a non-executive directorship. We worked with CMi on both these missions.

I worked with two mentors through the CMi network, one in the UK and one based in Continental Europe. I was able to learn about the different governance systems and approaches in the two regions. The meetings were wide-ranging and very practical – comparing real-world experiences made the experience immensely rewarding from a practical standpoint. As a result of my work with CMi, I now sit on the Board of a UK listed company in addition to my executive role.

CMi was also able to help me with mentoring during an intense period as interim CEO at my former company, which I found very beneficial in both managing the executive team and working with the Board.

In summary, the quality of the network and the contacts has made a tangible impact on my career over the last 18 months and I would warmly recommend the experience.”

RAY STEWART
Chief Financial Officer – Belgacom Group

“When I decided that I wanted to become a Non-Executive Director, I knew I needed some assistance in terms of understanding what skills and experiences were required to be a very effective Director. CMi was highly recommended to me by two close colleagues of mine.

The active relationship I have had with my mentor discussing many different topics and issues concerning being a good NED and surrounding corporate governance have been invaluable for me. I find his experience and knowledge to be outstanding. Also, the different targeted sessions that CMi hosted has helped a great deal.

Now that I am a Non-Executive Director I still stay in contact with CMi and my mentor. It is reassuring to know if there is an issue I have people who can help.”

DAVID WESTON
Group Director of Business Performance, Anglo American plc

“Having returned to the UK after spending about half my 25-year career abroad in a large multinational oil company, I was keen to reconnect with the UK corporate world. As the CEO of a major division within a FTSE 10 company, I agreed with my new employer that a seat on a FTSE 100 board would be a valuable development opportunity as well as providing new insights to help me in my full-time role. To build my understanding of NED roles I researched the options with input from specialist headhunters as to where I might turn for guidance. CMi offered a very good fit with my circumstances, and already had a solid reputation with my employer. I secured an excellent NED appointment within six months of starting to work with them.

The high-profile mentors I worked with have been exceptional. It is very rare in a career, even within one’s own employing company, to get the opportunity for deep, quality one-to-one discussions with people of this caliber, exploring not just matters related to corporate governance but also the dilemmas and challenges in one’s ongoing executive role. CMi offer a very strong and varied range of mentor profiles, are good at finding appropriate matches and deliver an excellent facilitation process to ensure that the meetings are appropriately scheduled and evaluated.”

OLAF SWANTEE
Senior Executive Vice-President, Europe, France Telecom

“I joined Orange – France Telecom Group in 2007 to run the mobile business across the group with a focus on Europe and Egypt. In this new role, I had to join a number of supervisory boards in various countries with different levels of complexity. CMi helped me to be more effective in these boards through targeted discussions and a valuable seminar. The individual confidential meetings with experienced chairmen gave me the additional opportunity to discuss complicated international business challenges and to test ideas before implementation. I am convinced that the CMi program will continue to bring me value add going forward.”

SERGIO GIACOLETTO
Former Executive Vice-President EMEA, Oracle

“After working over 30 years in international operating roles in large corporations, I wanted to plan for the next phase of my career as an independent director. I realized this was not an easy move and therefore I engaged the services of CMi to learn more about corporate governance, as well as to expand my network.

I have now taken the step of changing from an operational position to a non-executive role and I have joined three Boards thanks to the work done by CMi. ”

ANTOINE DE SAINT-AFFRIQUE
Executive Vice-President, Global Skin Category, Unilever

“Unilever gave me the opportunity to widen my experience and professional scope by seeking an external Non-Executive Directorship of a listed company in addition to my executive duties by allowing me to have a formal training, mentoring and - in due course – a directorship via the services of CMi.

The quality of the mentors I was provided with, their level of personal commitment to my development both as a future NED and as a senior business leader, and the quality time we have spent and keep spending together, have made this an insightful, enriching and deeply rewarding experience.

Having joined, as an Independent Director, the Board of a Global CAC 40 company I have had the opportunity to experience the relevance of the training and mentoring, and hit the ground running.”