Might You Want To Be On A Board?
The Job Forum recently hosted an event called “Path to the Boardroom”. The Job Forum session focused on how board service is one means to achieving career enhancement.
On the panel to advise job hunters and those interested in potential board service, were Julia Herzenberg, Kaiser Permanente, Anjana Uterid, Executive Director and President of Oasis Academy, Michelle Liu, a management consultant focused on big transformational projects, Brenda Rogers, an HR consultant and HR fractional leader and leader at BAHREC, Donna Hamlin, CEO and Founder of Boardwise, Holy Uber, former product manager at Genentech and current member of How Women Lead and Irene Melitas, former Chevron Executive in Corporate Treasury and current member, Board of Directors John Muir Health Foundation.
Career Advantages to Board Service:
– Be a part of collective strategic planning.
– Get to know people on the board who come from very diverse backgrounds and very diverse industries.
– Gain insights, at the board level. See across the board what risks people are talking about, what concerns they have, and understand what senior leaders need to deal with.
-Depending on what kind of board, you may experience the opportunity to really understand some of the emerging tech and some of the things that are coming up in the startup world or certain challenges of growth- stay current and be a leader.
– Change and expand your skills completely. Everything that’s done at the board level is peer-based problem solving. It’s different than what we do when we’re in our “Executive Function” roles so it adds to your methods.
– Helps you with more ideation and ways for solving problems, because the diversity of thinking around the table creates a different kind of outcome.
– Builds a new expanded network with the people that are there thinking differently than you, It gives you a whole different resource.
– Learn and grow as an individual and as a leader.
– Develop emerging leaders within your field and equip yourself to be a better leader at the same time as you are contributing.
Kinds of Boards to consider:
There are five styles of boards,
1.Nonprofit, 2. Advisory, 3. Municipal, 4. Private company, 5. Public company.
– The Job Forum group of experts recommends to work on nonprofit and private company boards first – because public boards are much more stringent- If it’s a public company, what they’re looking for are CFOs and COO’s, and CEOs.
How to Prepare to be Selected for a Board Search:
– Figure out the causes or specific kind or stage of industry or company for yourself first, then you will narrow the scope of where you’re going to look for board opportunities. You will be more likely to get something to happen by being specific and goal oriented. Do not be “open to everything” because nothing happens with that posture; people want to know that you are interested in their cause or company or industry or challenge.
– Prepare to communicate effectively about how you will contribute to the Board; what do you bring to the table for the board work? It could be fundraising, it could be the access to networks that you have that will bring more growth for the business or the non-profit, or you may have strategic insights on that industry type that will add value. You’ve got to bring that forward on your Board Resume- which is a different resume than your job or career resume.
– An estimate is that 86% of the board placements come from your peer-based networks, through informal search, not through a formal search. When you get yourself organized, and you get your board qualifications on paper and clearly state these, then you are ready to bring up interest in board service to the people who know you, they can be ambassadors to get your name considered for a board.
Groups to consider for Preparing you for Board Service:
- Silicon Valley Directors Exchange (svdx.org)
It’s free. You can go to those programs. You get to meet a whole bunch of people who are on boards, which is a good way to get some coaching and some education.
- National Association of Corporate Directors (NACDonline.org)
You can go to Stanford or another university to get certified. You can join as an individual to get board insights and networking.
- Boardwise (boardwise.biz)
Services include board evaluation, professional certification, and training for board service.
- How Women Lead (howwomenlead .com)
This organization of top executive women is engaged in activating collective power in leadership, investment and philanthropy.
Final word;
Do your homework
Make sure you do your research especially on some of these “Board Finding” organizations. There are organizations that may do outreach to you and say we’ve got this board position, blah, blah, blah, yet when you start doing research on the organization, it may be questionable. Do not pay fees to “get listed’ as available.
In the SF Bay Area:
You may want to visit “The Volunteer Center “( volunteer info.org) (SF and San Mateo counties ). They run a Board Match where nonprofits recruit board members and offer ways to discover board opportunities.
You may visit VolunteerMatch (Volunteermatch.org which is now part of idealist.org ) and search for Board of Directors or Board of Advisors and then you can apply to non-profits directly to get some experience on a board.
