Executive pay and perks have been creeping up the agenda with politicians and the public increasingly questioning the rewards given to top CEOs when companies fail.

But should this be done well before any potential failure and in particular when highly paid executives are seeking support for the restructuring and reorganisation initiatives that is necessary when their company is in financial difficulties?

Leadership involves setting an example and when the chips are down this means making demonstrable self-sacrifices.

This week, the Financial Times reported that Standard Chartered bank CEO Bill Winters may have his total pay cut and Namal Nawana will be leaving his CEO role at Smith & Nephew after less than a year after investors turned down his request to increase his $6m package to nearer $18m-$20m.

But it is not only executive pay that has come under fire, this is also true of pensions and other executive benefits.

In September the influential investor group IA (The...

It is not unusual when I am called in to advise a SME in distress on restructuring its business that I find that there is a conflict among directors.

Perhaps it is no surprise that in today’s trading environment there should be disagreements at board level about how to proceed, particularly during financial difficulties when people are under stress.

However, a successful turnaround plan depends not only on my thorough investigation of the state of a business, in terms of the numbers and the business model, it also needs the support of the board, suppliers as creditors and other stakeholders, not least the employees.

While a conflict among directors has the potential to undermine, damage and disrupt a business at any time, this is more so in a tight corner when leadership and a united team is needed to execute a turnaround plan.

Tools that can help to resolve a boardroom conflict

While every business, and every conflict, is likely to be unique there are some tools that can help...