Nottinghamshire's Committee Needs You

 

14/09

GENERAL COMMITTEE STORIES: FRASER MONTGOMERY AND STEPHEN LEHANE
Stephen Lehane has been a member of the General Committee since 2023. Before that, he was Chair of the club’s Nominations Panel.

A B.Sc. in Economics at the London School of Economics, followed by a postgraduate qualification from Cambridge, led Stephen to a number of board-level roles in industry, including at Walgreens USA and Boots the Chemists, where he was HR and Change Director.

Stephen’s background in HR made him the natural choice for Chair of the club’s newly formed Nominations Panel in 2020. The panel’s remit is to encourage a wide range of high-quality individuals to apply for Committee, and to select from those who then apply via to be considered for nomination.

The panel was established as part of the club’s major governance changes in that year. Leading the panel also called on Stephen’s background in change management.

“Change is all about taking people with you”, he says “and it was important to me that we set up the panel using criteria that would be fair and credible in attracting the people needed for the future.”

Does Stephen think the panel has been a success so far? His answer is a resounding yes, adding that he is impressed by the Panel’s recent drive to encourage potential applicants to look afresh at their experience and to consider how they might use it as a non-executive Director at the club.

Stephen relinquished the Chair of Nominations Panel at the end of his three-year term, and is now a member of the General Committee, and chair of the Organisational Development Sub-Committee.

So, what led him to continue his non-executive work for the Club? “I love the game and Notts in particular,” he says.

“I wanted to continue to be useful as we navigate future changes in the club, particularly the ways in which we continue to give members a voice – whether loyal county followers or newer fans attracted to other forms of the game.

“I know that being a board member in a large business is not the same as serving a club with our proud heritage, but it is always true that you have to listen to people and be straight about how you see the future.

“For example, I have been impressed with the way the Executive have talked to members about the pavilion development and The Hundred, and believe that I and other board members have supported that approach.”

Like Stephen, Fraser Montgomery has a broad CV with over thirty years’ experience in finance, many of them at Board level as Chief Financial Officer.

He has a wide range of sector experience across leisure, hospitality, retail, charity, education and the public sector, as well as significant experience of the non-executive role, a factor which he believes is crucial to understanding life as a General Committee member at Notts.

His non-executive experience is gleaned from being a trustee at the Girls’ Day School Trust, as the Chair of Scottish Curling and trustee at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. Fraser believes this demonstrates how experiences of a similar role elsewhere can bring transferable skills that are applicable in his role at Notts.

“Essentially the principles of the non-executive role are the same everywhere”, he says.

“It’s always important to remember that a non-executive director provides an independent view, and because objectivity is so crucial, it is valuable to have experience of other businesses and other sectors, to provide a useful benchmark and contact network”.

Both men agree that ‘Eyes on, hands off’ is a simple way to engage as a non-executive. “It’s a privileged position, allowing you to step back and take an objective view of a situation, provide appropriate challenge, act as an encouraging sounding board and to make useful suggestions” adds Fraser.

What advice would the two of them give to anyone considering an application? They both agree that the skill set needed can come from a wide range of backgrounds, citing their own in finance, project management, change management and HR.

But, adds Stephen, remember that “you are likely to possess some of the skills and experience the Nominations Panel are looking for if you lead people in any environment – work, sport, community, church, mosque, or if you are someone who gets things done, for example arranging meetings, events fun runs, fairs or a book club.”

10/08

Pravda Appeal

Nottinghamshire CCC is seeking four individuals to join its General Committee from February 2025.

As we gear up for this year’s recruitment exercise, we invite passionate individuals to consider joining our committee. Kindly read on for more details on the process, and first-hand accounts of life as a committee member.

 

Key Details:

• Recruitment Period: The recruitment process will commence at the end of September, culminating in the AGM in February 2025.
• Opportunities: We will be making three appointments through the elected route (open to eligible adult Nottinghamshire members) and one appointment via our Nominations Panel (for which candidates need not be Nottinghamshire members at present, but must join the club if successful).
• Application Process: Details on how to apply and the recruitment process will be available on t at the end of September.