Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Gail Cook-Bennett
In The Directors Chair with David W. Anderson: There are a lot of firsts associated with Gail Cook-Bennetts 16 years
as a chair and 36 years on crown and corporate boards. Adding value as a director, she says, means innovating
Photography by Jeff Kirk
Gail Cook-Bennett
Current roles
Chair, Institute of Corporate Directors; Director, Bridgepoint Active Healthcare; Member, Government of Canada Audit
Committee; Member, Salvation Army, National Advisory Board
Former chair of the board
Manulife Financial Corp., Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
Former corporate directorships
TD Bank, Petro-Canada, Enbridge Consumers Gas, Emera Inc., Mackenzie Financial, Transcontinental Inc., Cadillac Fairview Inc.,
Campbell Soup Co. Ltd. (Canada), Manufacturers Life Capital Corp.
Former crown directorships
Bank of Canada, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, The Stadium Corp. of Ontario Ltd., IDEA Corp., Institute of Hydrogen Systems
Advisory roles
Advisory Committee on Financing (to the federal Minister of Finance); The Trilateral Commission (Canadian Group);
Presidents Advisory Council, Carleton University; Governance Leadership Council, Ontario Hospital Association
Education
PhD (Economics), University of Michigan; BA (Hons) (Economics), Carleton University
Honours
kMember, Order of Canada (2008)
kHonourary doctorates: York University (2009); Carleton University (2004)
kFellow, Institute of Corporate Directors (2000)
kMontreal YWCA Honour for Contribution to Working Women (1977)
kCanadian Diversity Champion by Women of Influence (2012)
kWXN Canadas Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award (2012, 2011, 2003)
Years of board service
36 years (16 years as chair)
35
Gail Cook-Bennett
experience and ability to contribute as part of a team. The second requirement is to harness that knowledge and insight represented at the
table. Its a challenge to steer the board to a common view and foster
cohesion in the face of disagreement. A chair has to listen carefully
to people with different perspectives. Of course, directors are not always right; individual directors can be dead wrong in a disagreement
with management or fellow directors. Yet contrary views respectfully
stated can illuminate bigger truths. The value of a board is found in its
collective judgment. The third important ingredient is agenda setting,
which is used as a tool to manage the boards scarce time. To set the
agenda requires knowledge of the critical issues in order to frame and
foster debates and maintain focus.
37
Gail Cook-Bennett
ings doesnt generally encourage innovation, but does it produce better governance?
Gail Cook-Bennett Board rankings have focused attention on some
important issues. People are more aware of constituent parts of governance, but its not the whole story. Youre right to say rankings dont
encourage innovation, but they may move some organizations more
quickly to what Ive called standard practice in basic areas. However,
you have to look at more than one dimension to appreciate the complexity of governance and the effectiveness of a board. What really matters is what goes on around the board table.
David W. Anderson Do we need to update our view on governance
39