When do you set sail? When do you batten down the hatches?
Consider the case of Laurentian Bank. For the benefit of international folks skimming this post, Laurentian is Canada’s eighth largest bank—in a world of scale, digitization, and consolidation, it faced a proverbial fork in the road: how do we organically grow? Do we have the time and resources? Or do we maximize value now, before things deteriorate? Yogi Berra’s classic “when you come to a fork in the road, take it” isn’t an option.
On July 11, the bank’s board gave a green light to its leadership team—led by a dynamic “Canada’s first ever female bank CEO”—to “conduct a review of the company's strategic options to maximize shareholder value.” Laurentian stock jumped by about 25%.
Fast forward less than three months to October 2, 2023. Minutes before the market’s opening bells, Laurentian issued a terse press release advising that both the CEO and Chair had been replaced. The explanation included reference to a computer failure the preceding week.
There’s lots of “I wonder” questions—questions that could be generically applied to similar situations, like Sears, or Kodak. Did the board fully understand the attractiveness (or lack thereof) of the franchise? Did a dynamic personality CEO energize and create a “rah-rah” mood within a sleepy board? Was the direction sound, but the execution poor? Did the board allow enough time for the proverbial tea to steep? Laurentians’ stock is now about 20% below where it was before the strategic review.
When a business is performing “OK”—good enough but not good enough—it might be time for the board to lean in, and support something that could be risky. As the Admiral said, “a ship in port is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for”. Again, thinking back to the Kodak and Sears of the world…. Sometimes hugging the safety of the coastline brings you closer danger.
One thing for sure, the next Laurentian CEO will understand board culture.
Observations welcome!
#boardsofdirectors #governance #professionaldevlopment #decisionmaking
Vice President - Inclusion, Culture & Talent Officer at QCR Holdings, Inc. Strategic Vision | Corporate Culture & DEI | Top Talent
3wI love this!! Congratulations to two amazing colleagues and talented teammates!! ❤️