While accepting a corporate board seat remains a noble calling–despite the pressure directors operate under today – an even better reason for board service is that it can help you to be more effective, more successful and more satisfied in your current job. Read on to understand what I mean.
As you rise up the corporate ladder, it can get lonely up top. You are working ten-hour days, and every minute of your time is consumed. Where are you getting your coaching, your space for strategic thinking or your external stimuli? Most of your companies put money aside for some form of yearly training for each employee. But, as you approach the higher echelons of your corporation or organization, you’re expected to be the pro and the one training others. And so you should. But some of the best training you can offer a high-potential executive so that he or she becomes an even better role model or trainer-and an even more effective leader-is the experience of being a corporate director.
As leaders of any company, you are expected to lead you business in innovation and new strategic directions. You also need to ensure that you are growing the breadth and depth of your organization and therefore have a good succession plan and do so while providing good financial results and ethical oversight. These are the very same mandates for a board director. My guess is that many of you have to present to your boards. You learn from being on the other side how board members think and how they look at strategic decisions and investments.
We all need external stimuli in our lives. By being exposed to the different issues of another company, you find that the underlying themes are often the same. You learn about best practices and how others handle similar opportunities or challenges.
You also lead from watching and participating in the conversations of a group of highly successful and effective heads of organization, who come with different experiences and perspectives. Boards usually include members from different industries, functions, geographies, and increasingly, different cultures.
On top of that, the simple act of taking a day out of your day-to-day frenetic schedule gives you time to think and reflect, which makes you a better leader. Board service also teaches you to stay at the strategic level and not to micromanage those who should be doing the work.
Board service may also present you with a nice transition for retirement. When you retire from your thirty-plus year career, your mind doesn’t retire. Serving on a board allows you to stay involved in the business world or current issues of interest. You’ve just spent years of building expertise in your given area. It’s nice to be able still to share all that knowledge, perspective and yes, war wounds on behalf of shareholders in helping a company grow successfully. The remuneration is not bad either, but that is not why you should choose to do board service.
Some enjoy board service so much that after retirement they create a portfolio career around serving on a couple of boards. You will find that these same people frequently serve on not-for-profit boards at the same time.
All of this assumes that you are qualified to serve on a board. In order of desirability, the pecking order usually goes as follows: sitting CEO, recently retired CEO, CFO, president of a company, president or SVP of a large division (global is better), then a SVP or head of a desired function, such as marketing. Depending on the board’s needs, you will also see smaller numbers of members from the professional ranks of law, academia, or government (in the ladder, retired of course) and others.
Can board service be a good career enhancer? Absolutely. Serving on a board broadens your perspective and your experience. It exposes you to best practices all of which you can take back to your day job. It helps to season you as a leader. Along the way, you meet really interesting people and are exposed to challenging problems and exciting opportunities. It is not for the faint of heart. But it is for those who want to make a valuable contribution to growing our businesses and society. It can be ever so rewarding.
Rita Foley leads the Director Service Practice for Crenshaw Associates.
Glad to read a positive reminder for fellow board members why one should still consider board service.