Episode 156. David Sproul: How boards help CEOs create sustainable growth - lessons from Deloitte & Starling Bank

An Enter the Boardroom podcast interview with David Sproul

David Sproul is Chair of Starling Bank and Chair of Pennon Group. Formerly, he was Deputy Global CEO of Deloitte UK.

Tune in to hear his thoughts on: Deloitte UK expansion: the toughest conversations David had with his board (00:46) How to reframe board risk discussions positively (03:28) Balancing logos and pathos when influencing (06:13) Should CEOs come to the board focused on upside or downside? (08:58) How the board helped improve David’s thinking about Deloitte’s expansion (12:02) How they helped give credibility and bandwidth to David’s strategy (15:41) The specific value independent directors gave David (18:01) Starling Bank: key lessons in chairing a high-growth business (22:48) How boards can help reconcile failing fast with regulatory scrutiny (25:59) Lessons from Starling Bank’s FCA fine (27:23) How to do due diligence on a company before accepting a board position (33:39) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡(41:05)

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Seven themes from the interview:

1. Reframe transformational decisions as “Yes, provided we can manage the risks.”
   Sproul’s toughest Deloitte UK board moment was getting the board to shift from “no until we understand every risk” to “strategically, right approve if risks are managed.” That reframing unlocks speed and control.
2. Recognise that the board is making two decisions, not one.
   Especially in partnerships (and often in listed boards too), stakeholders vote on:

• enterprise logic (is this right for the organisation?) and
• personal logic (“what’s in it for me?”).
  Ignoring the second slows everything down and breeds passive resistance.

1. Use the CEO/board “DNA difference” as a feature, not a bug.
   CEOs come with conviction; boards rarely start with the same conviction. The board’s job is to calibrate: back the direction once persuaded, then materially improve the thinking and execution, without turning the process into a veto machine.
2. Independent directors add disproportionate value by changing the conversation, not just contributing to it.
   Sproul’s best example: external voices forced more “outside-in” thinking (e.g., geopolitics/Russia exposure), and helped the board step up or step back, preventing over-involvement in detail and surfacing topics the board wasn’t discussing.
3. In tech-led regulated businesses, the core governance question is: how do you scale the back office as fast as the front office?
   “Fail fast” can work, but only if you build controls/capability in parallel so innovation isn’t stifled and regulation is met. This is as much culture (how leaders think about regulation) as org design.
4. When things go wrong, the board’s differentiator is early surfacing and early escalation—not perfect MI.
   Sproul’s general rule: boards shouldn’t hear “we had a problem, but we solved it.” They should hear “we may have a problem—here’s what we’re doing, and we want the board’s counsel.” That mindset is systemic and repeatable.
5. Prioritise attitude and culture alongside aptitude and data.
   His takeaway is blunt: issues usually aren’t “a clear red flag the board missed,” but a mix of signals + how (or whether) they get surfaced, debated, and acted on. Chairs/NEDs should test openness, transparency, and learning behaviours—not just dashboards.