Whether you are a young professional or already well-established in your career, if you are looking to raise your profile and have not yet asked yourself this question, then you should, and here is why.
For starters, anyone can serve on a board.
For a long time serving on boards, more often than not, meant that you had to be a well-known personality with a longstanding and successful career, boasting good networks and preferably in your late 40s and above 50s.
Companies like Apple, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, led by their founders Steve Jobs, Larry Page, Mark Zuckerberg, and Bill Gates, were all formed while their founders were in their early 20s. No doubt they would have made ideal board candidates if the success of the companies they run is anything to go on. Few boards to date represent a youth demographic.
It is worth mentioning that more than half the world is under 30 and represents a significant chunk of the global workforce.
“Anyone therefore can and should serve on a board. You only need the right combination of knowledge & skills and the expectation of navigating a competitive recruitment process that can sometimes mirror a job search.”
Here are five things to consider when looking to serve on board.
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What relevant experience do you bring to the table?
At the highest level, this can mean you are CEO or a mid-level to a senior executive with a strong track record in managing roles that oversee or manage profits and losses. If you have no shiny career to speak of yet, volunteer your time and skills to non-profits and begin to gain the necessary experience in making recommendations or group decisions that add value to a board.
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Do your research.
Find out who leads the boards you are eyeing. A simple Google search will reveal a lot about various company boards. Understand the structure of the different types of boards, the committees of these boards, and their makeup. For example, the people who sit or chair the boards understand the company and its landscape.
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How best can you articulate what value you will bring to a board?
Having identified a specific board you want to join, imagine interviewing for the position. What will your resume say about you that will get attention? If you understand legal matters and a board is looking for an expert on governance, be specific about your abilities or past work around the same.
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Who do you know?
You must have heard the expression: your network is your net worth. What relationships do you have or have you built over the year that you can leverage? You already know how competitive getting on a board is. Do not blindly ship your resume to different companies hoping for someone to notice it. You will need to find a way to get introduced to the CEO or a sitting committee member to get your foot in. If you do not have personal contacts, leverage your LinkedIn networks.
List influential people in your connections and identify who sits on a board, CEO, CFO, etc. You could even reach out to an old friend or peer who is now a senior executive at a company and find out if their CEO is looking to fill some board seats.
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How do you successfully demonstrate your desire to contribute?
It’s not enough to ask for a seat at the table. Board service is about just that, service. Boards exist to support the interests of the company and its shareholders. So you should be ready to not just sit on a board but also serve.
Say Yes!
If asked to serve on a board for the first time, even if it may not be your ideal board, take the offer. Some dream boards are almost impossible to get on as a newbie, so be OK with starting somewhere. Like anything in life, your first board will always lead to the next one.
Do you want to learn more about How To Best Serve on a Board? Register for our FREE Board Readiness and Excellence Webinar. Book your seat right now!
