Tips for mindful leadership and board effectiveness

Each week, we will delve into the reading list of finance professionals from around the world. This week, we hear from Pauline Le, CPA/CITP, CGMA, the vice president of finance at Birkman International in Houston. Here is a sampling of content that has resonated with her:

• “Corporate Boards: Moving Beyond Compliance Toward Organizational Effectiveness”: Le found value in the author’s recommendations. Without structural effectiveness as part of their oversight practices, boards do not have the full picture to provide necessary insights or guidance.


• “When Projects Have a Zero or Negative NPV”: The article focuses on investments that have a net present value (NPV) of zero, or projects that end up losing money. One example in the article is replacing a roof on an older building. Le liked that the article shed light on how poor decisions are made by companies and how using the NPV break-even analysis can help evaluate alternatives and track performance after the investment.


• The Mindful Leader: Awakening Your Natural Management Skills Through Mindfulness Meditation: Le recommends this 2007 book by Michael Carroll because it is a true how-to guide for those aspiring to be more mindful in the workplace. “The practice of mindfulness meditation not only helps improve one’s health, but also helps close the gap between perception and reality,” Le said. “Once detached from our own preconception, judgement, and ego to see things as they are, we will find ourselves active listeners, objective observers, and prudent decision-makers who are ethical in our thinking and behaviours – qualities that others naturally gravitate towards and follow.”

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