To get a board role, you need to focus on four simple steps:
Takeaways from Jewel's Masterclass below.
A board resume is targeted at boards of directors and nominating committees. It focuses on your strategic thinking, and your governance capabilities. And it emphasizes your ability to guide the company's direction, manage risk, and provide value to the shareholders. It presents your entire career history and your overall leadership profile. And it communicates how your unique value proposition and insights can enhance the discourse and the decisions that that board is making. What's key here is going to be this unique value proposition. So what does this mean? The unique value proposition is a brief statement that summarizes your qualifications and your contributions as a board member. The core pillars that go into your value proposition are going to be who you are, what you do, and the value that you bring.
Identify what's motivating you. This is your why. You have to have a reason why. And you have to be able to clearly articulate that reason why. You need to have a very clear idea of why you want to join, not just a board, but that board. Because you need to put yourself into the future when you're interviewing. And you're sitting across from a board recruiter or the board president. They want to know why you want to be on that board, not a board, that board. And you need to articulate the reason why you also want to consider the kind of board role that best suits you, your lifestyles, your wants and your needs.
Read their annual report. This is public if it's a publicly traded firm. You can also research the background of existing board members, and you can use LinkedIn for that. Another smart thing to do is you can take a look at boardprospects.com. This is an online community, and it's a recruitment platform for existing and prospective board members. So that's important as well. Make sure that your network knows that you're interested in a board position. Ask for referrals to other senior executives and board members.
What you can do here is reach out to organizations that you're interested in serving on their board, express your interest, express your qualifications, do your homework on the board, and do your homework on that organization that you're interested in. Learn about their current board members, learn about those people's backgrounds, their roles. Learn as much as you can about the dynamic. You can research the mission, the vision, the values, the goals, the needs, the history, the culture, the performance, the challenges, the opportunities. You can also follow up and ask for an informational interview, ask for meeting with the board chair or with the nominating committee. An informational interview, friends, takes 15 minutes and it can be done on Zoom. Don't make the mistake of saying anything to the effect of, Hey I just wanted to pick your brain. Nobody has time for that. And people fail to realize how much of a burden that actually is when you're saying to someone I want to pick your brain. What you're also saying is, I didn't bother to do the homework of looking up your mission, your values, your history, your dynamic, but somehow I'm just hoping that you will carve out some time for me so that you can spoon feed me all of that. Don't do that. When you come looking for an informational interview, the onus is on you to demonstrate and prove that you've done your homework. That is critically, critically important. Make sure to volunteer. Make sure to serve on the committee. This is how you demonstrate your commitment and interest in an organization. And you can also join a committee or task force that is relevant to your background or your goals. What this will do is help you gain exposure to the board members and learn more about the organization's mission, vision, values and showcase your impact and potential as a board member.
