Shelly Lazarus, Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Discusses Corporate Responsibility

Shelly Lazarus sits on the board of directors for several organizations, such as Merck & Co., General Electric, New York Presbyterian Hospital, the World Wildlife Fund, Smith College, and Shelly is also Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide. In a recent interview on The CEO TV Show Shelly discussed what makes a good board of directors, and the role of corporate philanthropy.

What do you think makes a good board? I asked Shelly.

“The board is there to represent shareholders’ interests, of course, but their #1 responsibility is to ensure the long term success of the company.  This responsibility falls into three areas: First, overseeing CEO performance and CEO succession; second, reviewing the general strategy of the company; and third, overseeing corporate risk.”

Shelly also added that “The best boards are those where there is an atmosphere of respect and trust amongst the members from a professional perspective. Even if we disagree, and sometimes heatedly, it isn’t personal – it’s about what we think is best for the company. We also respect the CEO and leadership of the company for what they do, because most of us have also been in their shoes.”

Where does philanthropy come into the purview of the business? Or is it entirely separate?

“Corporate philanthropy used to be about writing checks to charities after everything else has been accounted for. It isn’t that way any longer. Now it is about going right to the core of an organization and its strategy. The market has spoken – which means the people have spoken – and they have said that they care, sometimes deeply, about what kind of a corporate citizen a company is. Essentially, this means, ‘do the actions of the company make the world a better place’? So philanthropy is systemic to strategy, and companies who ignore this do so at their peril!” Shelly explained.

To find out more business advice from Shelly Lazarus, Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide check out this week’s video interview.

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