Over 100 leaders Discuss the Roles and Responsibility of Outside Directors

Grand Hilton Hotel Seoul, Korea – December 14, 2006 -- The history of the outside director system in Korea is very short as it was first introduced in 1998 after the Asian Financial crises hit. Several leaders in South Korea met to discuss the progress of outside directors to date and how a better future might be shaped. The concept of outside directors is to better enhance corporate transparency and improve the overall management of companies by having these professionals on board with a fresh set of eyes.

Thanks to the support of the Korea Listed Companies Association, Saturn Communications, McKinney Consulting and others this day long event proved to be a great venue where greater understanding of outside directors and their roles and responsibility. Areas such as; "Corporate Value Creation"; Loyalty vs. Independence; Liability; An Investors View; Attracting and Appointing; and "Different Company Structures" were all debated.

The Korea Listed Companies Association; Financial Supervisory Service; Steve McKinney, founder of McKinney Consulting; Gavin Nicholson, Co-author of "Boards That Work" all spoke during the event. Steve McKinney speaking on The Outside Director: An Invitation to Lead" said: Non-executive directors are not just a mandate for better governance; they are a second-to-none opportunity to introduce real leadership in an organization in a non-threatening way. Also, we will attract the leaders-directors who mirror who we are and what we stand for. If we don't like something about our outside directors, maybe we need to look within ourselves to fix it. Also, you will know your leader by his influence. He will influence the company in the most positive ways if he is empowered to lead, and has the support of the rest of the board, and the executive directors. Without support, there will still be influence, but it may not be positive. No leader, no matter how capable can overcome a hostile or uncooperative inner circle."

Director Jeon, Hong-Yul of the Financial Supervisory Services said that currently we have 2,450 outside directors on the boards of companies in Korea. . That comes out to less than 2 per company. The typical director is 56 years old and has a background in business. Chairman Park, Seung-bok of the Korea Listed Companies Association said; "The outside Director system … was helping to ensure the utmost transparency in governance and a better corporate structure."

To see the full text of Mr. McKinney’s speech click on this link to view the speech. http://mckinneyconsulting.com/content/view/102/28/

Steven B. McKinney is the founder and president of McKinney Consulting Inc., Korea’s most trusted executive search firm.  Mr. McKinney is a well known and highly sought after commentator on Asian HR and management topics.  He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

About McKinney Consulting
McKinney Consulting delivers executive search and professional human resources services to a wide cross-section of multinational companies from different industries operating in Korea and Asia. For more than 5 years, McKinney Consulting has delivered high-quality HR services and filled executive search positions from President and below for many of the world's largest companies. More information about McKinney Consulting can be found at www.mckinneyconsulting.com