Jeff’s guest Donna Hamlin is an executive with extensive corporate, governance, and strategy consulting experience. She is an Advisory Partner for the CHRO practice of the 2GO Advisory group and is CEO of Boardwise, which provides corporate board advisory, evaluation, certification, training, and board search services internationally. Donna is certified for governance by the National Association of Corporate Directors in the U.S. and in global governance by Harvard University.

Jeff and Donna discuss how employees are the ambassadors of corporate brands. They talk about how to navigate the difficult waters of allowing employees to be authentic but doing it in a respectful way, ultimately leading to corporate change, better employee experience, and improved brand equity.

Donna shares how in businesses today HR and management teams must sit down to set guardrails and establish policies that are clear and understandable. She talks about creating employee change action teams to improve problem solving. She and Jeff discuss unleashing the creativity of employees to contribute and give substance to what core values are. Donna shares research that shows boards with at least three women on them produce higher returns. They discuss how inclusion is a competency, and how when managers serve on boards, they become more effective by naturally implementing peer-based leadership styles.