Author Archives: Dina Coppel

About Dina Coppel

Focused on elevating governance and women at all levels of business to improve performance

Managing Expectations

You’d think, given the title of this blog (1000 coffees), I might have managed my own expectations in the quest for a non-executive directorship portfolio. But as with most things in life, there are ups and downs and times when things look like they’re going well, and times when, frankly, they don’t.

As would be the case with many people in my position, when I meet with people in the context of seeking a non-executive director role, I am regularly reassured that I have the attributes boards are looking for, having run companies and been responsible for a P&L as well as having the appropriate financial and legal skills. I can tick all the boxes of things one should do: do the AICD course, focus on a particular sector, target not-for-profits and government as well, network with the people I’ve worked with before, and so on. However, it’s not a science. There is an element of timing, luck, synchronicity that plays a part too.

There are a lot of very capable people out there, looking to do the same thing. I had coffee with a gentleman a few weeks’ ago who told me of numerous occasions where he was “this close” and something happened for him not to get the role, whether it’s a deal falling apart, a change in focus, someone having just something else, or the inevitable “someone just knew someone else better”.

It can be disheartening, but it can’t be the end of the road. Recently I was approached and asked if I’d like to be considered for a non-executive directorship of a mid-level ASX listed company. In theory, I had all the requisite skills that the board were seeking given the company’s current state of business and the sector it was in, with one exception. I didn’t have listed company experience. I put forward all the reasons why I believed I could add value to the board and the company, but the feedback I received was that it was the lack of listed experience that didn’t get me onto the shortlist.

A recent conversation with someone at the AICD indicated that the Chairman’s Mentoring Program is really for people who are ready to step up to ASX200 listed boards. Given that this is not in any of their PR around the program, I responded that perhaps they should manage the expectations of the applicants better….

It all just confirms that despite the talk about the need for diversity in gender, skills, background and approach, most non-executive directorships are going to come through sponsors, mentors or recommendations. As one person said over coffee recently, it’s going to come from someone who is prepared to “stick his or her neck out and feel the breeze”. And the planets being in alignment.

Coffee count: 200

Circles of Action and Confirmation

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Those of you who are familiar with Steven Covey’s book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” (a book I read back in the early 1990’s and have revisited a number of times since) may recall his concentric circle model of the Circle of Influence and the Circle of Concern. His theory is that proactive people focus on their circle of influence, which sits inside their circle of concern. It’s a notion that I have often considered, along with the fact that worrying about things in your circle of concern but over which you have no influence is wasted energy (like getting frustrated when you’re stuck in traffic!).

This proactive focus can also be applied to the process of finding board roles. However, I have come to the realisation that the process also has two other circles in play: the circle of action and the circle of confirmation. Regular readers of this blog may recall that it is called “1000 coffees” because someone told me that it would take 1000 coffee meetings to achieve the board portfolio I was after. This resonated with many others and it seems to have some truth. While one has to have coffees with people both within the circle of action and the circle of confirmation, a board role is much more likely to come from the inner circle: the circle of action. Let me explain from my own perspective.

The circle of action consists of people with whom I have worked. It may be people who I have reported to, clients, people I worked alongside or who were part of the same team. They may be people who worked in the same organisation at the same time and while not working directly with me, were aware of the work I was doing. The things these people all have in common is that they have seen me in action: have seen how I work and the product of my work. They can speak first hand of how I operate, how I deal with people and issues. That gives others a degree of comfort if they haven’t worked with me themselves.

The circle of confirmation is a much wider circle. It consists of people whom I have met (and often had coffee with). They may be people who have talked with me at length, interviewed me (in the case of headhunters particularly) but not actually worked with me. They are the people who can confirm that I might be a good sort, don’t seem to have two heads and seem to be able to string some sentences together to make sense.

Until I have enough board roles so that my experience speaks for itself, I believe potential board roles will largely come from the circle of action. They will come from people I have worked with previously taking action, suggesting me to a chairman, a headhunter or a member of a nomination committee as someone who might be able to meet the requirements of the role they are seeking to fill. Their personal experience of me will carry the weight of a recommendation. And when my name comes up on a list, it will help if there are a number of other people who can confirm (and thus are in the circle of confirmation) that they have met me or heard of me and believe I might be able to do the role.

One needs both circles. Understanding the potential role of the people within each circle and to which circle a person belongs helps to bring focus to the process and the outcomes that might be able to be achieved from each of the coffees.

As with all things, there will be exceptions to the rule, but I thought this theory has enough legs to make it worth including in this blog.

Coffee count: 192

Benefits of career breaks – what women learn when they’re not “working”

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Very often when a woman writes her CV, there are gaps of some description, the so-called “career break”. These breaks most often are as a result of taking a break to have children, or to be at home for a period while the children are young. Increasingly, such breaks are also as a result of women taking care of an elderly or sick relative. Sometimes they are because a woman has worked all her life and decided that it is time to take stock or to spend time with older children before they leave home completely. Such career breaks are (very slowly) starting to appear on some men’s CVs as well – usually for the same reasons.

It seems that such career breaks usually have to be accompanied by an explanation, almost an apology. They almost always come with the assurance that the person is still capable and hasn’t lost any skills in the process. I think it’s time to turn that view on its head and look at the benefits of a career break and what positive things a career break say about a person. After all, if you were smart before you took a career break, having a baby or being a carer or stopping to review your career doesn’t make you any less smart.

There is, of course, the chance that if you worked in the financial markets where new derivative based products are developed every day, that you might have missed the extra bell or whistle that has been added while you were sitting out of the market for the past six months. But really, there are very few roles where the details can’t be filled in again – even in rocket science and brain surgery!

But what about all the other skills that are developed while the person is not “working”. Any person who has had a career break will tell you that being at home juggling the kids, the washing, the shopping and the other parents at school or in the canteen or uniform shop needs a whole new set of skills. The same is true for those who have to deal with doctors, nurses, hospitals and other health support services. It might be a change, but it’s certainly not a holiday. Not only are you flat-out busy, you’re not paid and often not appreciated much either. On top of it, if you don’t learn very fast to listen to others, to be accepting and empathetic, to multi-task, to be resilient and persistent, life just becomes frustrating and unmanageable. For someone not used to this part of the world, it can be much tougher to be successful than climbing the corporate ladder.

The truth is, taking a career break is more likely to give you exposure to the real world, and an understanding of real world challenges as well as the broader community; much more so than when one is ensconced in the corporate world. When these women (and the occasional man) return to the workforce, they are generally more efficient, better collaborators and have a greater ability to get to the real issues and understand what is really important. The skills they have gained while away from the office should be valued for what they are – indispensible assets.

So those looking at CVs with career breaks worked into them should not be thinking: “Oh, you might have lost your edge” and but rather “Great, this is someone with a much broader perspective”.

Coffee count: 181

PS For those interested in my personal progress, I am delighted to report at that the 176 coffees mark I was appointed to my first board role – moving from Board Observer to Non-Executive Director.

Being a Board Observer

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A couple of months ago I noted in a postscript that I had a second interview for a board role. The role was for the board of an unlisted public company. This company has a strong connection with a large listed financial institution, being effectively, a franchisee for two of its branches. As a result, the board of the company has to grapple with the issues many small to medium size businesses have had to deal with, while at the same time, understanding how to grow and develop a banking business.

The company in question has a strong relationship with its “franchisor” (the financial institution), which itself has developed a number of programs to assist the companies that help to develop the network. One of these focuses on Director Education, which includes a Board Observer program, education and development opportunities for directors and induction days for directors and observers.

The company has appointed three new Board Observers to its board. It is the company’s intention to offer the board observers a directorship, but a three month stint as an observer allows the company’s existing board to get to know the observers and work with them around the table. It also allows the observers the opportunity to understand more about the company and the existing directors and understand whether and how they can add value to the board. From discussions with the Chairman, I also understand that there is an expectation that this process will allow for board renewal in a gradual and planned manner, with a smooth handover. Each of the new observers brings different skills and experience to the company. Having signed confidentiality agreements, been included in board meetings, sub-committees as appropriate and director training as observers, once a mutual agreement is reached to become a director, it should be a seamless process.

It strikes me that this is an excellent way to not only conduct due diligence from both the perspective of the board and the prospective candidate, it is also a valuable process for the aspiring director. It seems that the greatest hurdle to becoming a board director is that one isn’t currently on a board. (It could be that one doesn’t have board experience but perhaps eight years on the board of an NFP doesn’t count). It makes me wonder why there are not more companies considering such a process, given that supposedly there is a desire to increase diversity (age, gender, experience). This is a good way to overcome the problem when a board has a great candidate on paper but no one on the board has worked with them before.

I know that there will be those with the answers as to why it can’t happen: potential legal ramifications of who was in the room at the time a decision was made or that it may constrain the usual discussion around the board table. But honestly, if boards want to make it happen, they clearly can. There are some doing it now.

Coffee count: 168

The inevitable dip

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It’s been just over a month since my last blog entry, but I’m back in the saddle. Rather than it being an issue with writer’s block, I have experienced the dip in enthusiasm and confidence that seems to strike from time to time.

I know I am not alone here, as during a conversation last week, a female non-executive director who is similarly building a portfolio of NED roles but has not yet “cracked” a listed company role, mentioned the same thing. When one needs to promote oneself each day and keep finding methods to connect with people in a relevant way and one receives warm responses but no real action, inevitably it becomes a tough road. The enthusiasm to keep going, to keep sending emails, making phone calls, perusing LinkedIn, ebbs a little. It’s not like I’ve run out of strategies, or don’t have a list of people to follow up – but it’s tough to just keep hammering away. It’s like the business development executive who intuitively understands that success will come from relationships and that it takes time to build relationships, but who sometimes wonders if the sale opportunity is ever going to come.

The director I was conversing with last week said she had a group of women with whom she meets regularly and they share their experiences, ultimately giving each other support. She is absolutely right. One needs friends, a mentor or a colleague with whom one can share the frustration and disconcertion of the process and who will encourage and support you.

You could see it as being part of the process of building resilience in future directors. Or alternatively regard it as part of the natural selection process – those who can manage the adversity of being ignored and having to nevertheless stay the course (or veer to find a better course) will ultimately be better directors. And if not ultimately true, that’s the kind of positive self-talk one needs to have to focus and get one’s stride back again!

For me this time, a 10 day escape to New York was a good way to have a break from the process. The distraction could not have come at a better time, although it was disappointing to hear news that I didn’t make the cut for the AICD mentoring program (more on that in a future blog). Right now, I’m back and ready to go again.

Coffee count: 162 (coffee in NY doesn’t count – despite an increase in boutique brewers, good coffee is still hard to find)

Good time for women

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After my blog a few weeks ago noting how difficult it is to get into government, I thought I should give credit where it’s due.

Anyone interested in the non-executive director (NED) space would be aware of the discussion about women on boards in the past few years. The discussion has covered the gamut of topics, from the fact there are not enough women on boards, why this is so, how to improve this situation, that companies with more women on their boards do better, and consequently what a good time it is for women who are seeking board roles. Plenty of talk, real change is taking longer….

There are lots and lots of very qualified women looking for board roles. I’ve met many of them and everyone I meet tells me that too. While there aren’t lots of female ex-C-suite executives to fill board vacancies, it would not be unreasonable to suggest that there are many women seeking board positions who are better qualified for a NED role than some existing male NEDs. As this blog canvasses, there are lots of reasons why it’s hard for women to break through into the network and there are lots of lessons we are learning in the process. But despite the fact there is both a supposedly strong demand and certainly a plentiful supply, that first board role is still elusive for many women.

Last year, the Federal Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Senator Penny Wong, announced the BoardLinks initiative, directly aimed at providing “more opportunities for women to be appointed to their first board, to launch and further their directorship careers” and to meet the Australian Government’s own target of having 40% women on Government boards. It was very gratifying that someone in a position of influence understood the “first board barrier” and sought to do something about it!! At this point, BoardLinks has operated to provide a database of appropriately qualified women to Government organisations, which at least makes the organisations aware of potential candidates who are women who might not otherwise be seen through networks or recruiter introductions. So far so good. However it’s still a passive process from the relevant women’s perspective. Hopefully there is more to come.

Now the Federal Government has launched a new website called Australian Government Boards which contains information “relating to more than 450 Australian Government boards and bodies across government, including a description of each board and its function, positions and appointments and term expiry dates” (http://www.ausgovboards.gov.au/). This site provides a single location to make an active search and campaign for a government board much simpler and more transparent. Anyone can now find out easily what boards there are, who is on the board, where there might be opportunities and when and work out how to make an approach. This is definitely a step in the right direction and should be applauded by all those who have had the advice “try and get on a government board”!

I do suspect this information might result in a few more coffees for me…..

Coffee count: 160

Industry focus vs agnosticism

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Right from the start, one of the questions I am always asked is “what industry are you focused on?” For many, the answer is obvious – years spent in banking would lead one to focus on the financial services industry; with deep experience in FMCG one would focus on retailing or manufacturing, as appropriate, etc. With a “lattice career” and broad experience across strategy, marketing, general management and business establishment in different industries, the answer has been less obvious for me.

However, it has always struck me as a catch-22 question. If one focuses on one industry and then attains a non-executive directorship for a company in that industry, one is then generally conflicted from seeking a role in another company in the same industry. Equally, it labels how people think of you. So I have been pleading agnosticism and saying that few industries are “rocket science” and my skills should be applicable across any number of industries. Usual response: nods of acknowledgement.

Two coffee meetings in the past week have led me to rethink this proposition….. At the first, with a mentor and experienced NED, the nod of acknowledgement was accompanied with a shake of the head. The problem with my answer, I am told, is that it doesn’t help people to place me in their own minds into a category. And for a first role especially, it needs to be easier for people to do that. I was advised to focus on what my key skills are and consider to what kinds of businesses those skills would be most applicable or useful. It narrows the range of industries or companies by being more specific, without being so specific that one might be excluded from being thought of as a specialist in one industry only. Articulated this way, I realised one can describe kinds of businesses rather than be very general.

The same question came up the following day and I applied the advice of the previous day. This time, the person (who was a colleague in the past) provided insight into how thinking about kinds of businesses and focusing on changes in the market, could lead one to think about one industry in order to access many others. For instance, the advent of the NBN will affect not just the obvious telecommunications businesses, but also others such as e-health, music, retailing and so on. This thinking allows one to talk to people in one industry about the implications on other industries – being industry focused without being industry limiting.

Two very enlightening coffees…..

PS: Shortly to have second round interview for first board role. It’s unpaid and it’s local, but it could be the first one!

Coffee count: 152

Getting into government

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In at least half of the meetings I’ve had with non-executive directors and almost all the meetings with head hunters, their advice has been to seek a role on a government board. Government boards are regarded as good places to gain experience and make connections. How one achieves that is another thing…

The Federal and NSW Governments both have registers for women seeking board positions. No doubt similar registers exist in the other states. As it’s the obvious place to start, I register and receive automated replies acknowledging such. Given that, as with all things, a personal interaction is usually more helpful, I try to find a way to add a personal element to my submission on the register. It takes a fair bit of research but eventually I have a conversation with the person responsible for maintaining the NSW register, only to be told that it works a little like a matching database and there is no opportunity to have any personal contact. No response to from the person who maintains the Federal Government database…

The search for some personal contact continues. A friend with contacts forwards my CV directly to the NSW Treasurer. I receive a letter from a member of his staff acknowledging it and suggesting that I register on the NSW register. Hello, I’m already on it! Didn’t anyone cross-check??

Finally, one of my coffee meetings elicits the name and number of the person who manages the process of recommending directors for NSW State Owned Corporations (SOCs). He described the multi-layered approach to coming up with a shortlist of names for board vacancies for SOCs, which seems to involve the existing chairman and board, possibly head hunters the board has appointed, the Treasurer and his staff and possibly another Minister and his or her staff. He went on to explain that his role is to manage the process to a point and then from the time of the interviews to a decision being made, the process is out of his hands and the time it takes is variable; it rests with the Ministers, the competing demands on their time and, inevitably, some politics. With the patience obviously gained working in government, he explains that the process is not dissimilar to that of the corporate world – it helps to be known by the people involved in the process.

Looks like getting into government roles will take a few more coffee meetings….

Coffee count: 148

The experience conundrum

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The experience conundrum is two-fold. The first relates to the desire of boards to have non-executive directors with experience. Understandably, companies want their boards to function well and the directors need to know that each of them sitting around the table understands what their role is in terms of governance, oversight and decision-making. However, boards need to continually refresh and the wider community want to improve diversity. How do you find new directors if they need to have experience? Did the first ever director have experience? It’s a little like the sign in the window of one of my local cafés: “Junior waitress wanted. Experience required”!!

Governance experience can be gained from working with not-for-profit organisations such as charities, school boards and sporting organisations. An understanding of governance and the decision-making process can also be gained by executives who report to boards or attend board meetings or board sub-committee meetings. The AICD runs an excellent course that all aspiring non-executive directors are encouraged to attend. If the knowledge gained there is not considered sufficient, then what does that say about the value of the course? And if all of that isn’t enough for a new director, couldn’t a chairman or existing experienced NED take the new NED “under their wing” for a while and mentor and them and pass on their wisdom and learnings from their own experiences?

The other experience conundrum is in relation to industry experience. A chairman putting a new board together told me that I wasn’t appropriate because I didn’t have experience in the particular industry that group operated within. Diversity doesn’t just come from a mix of genders. It comes from a mix of perspectives, which may derive from different genders, different ages and different industries. Very few businesses could say that their industry is so specific that they could not benefit from experience gained in a different industry, tackling similar issues. There are a huge range of industries where focusing on customer/client needs is critical, including retail, manufacturing, services etc. Similarly, there are a range of businesses where understanding capital-intensive assets is vital – it’s not just in mining and resources. Bringing a perspective from a different industry and from different experience will help reduce the risk of “group think” and sometimes lead to thinking about a mature business in a fresh way.

Coffee count: 141

Morphing executive to non-executive

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The CV. One has to have one and it is meant to show your skills and experience. Having had an executive career for 25 years, it’s pretty hard not to have a CV that reads like an executive CV. But to present as a credible non-executive director, one has to show how the executive experience translates to being of value in a non-executive way. In the first twelve months of looking for non-exec roles, I think I revised my CV four or five times (maybe more), following advice to reflect more metrics, bring out my commercial acumen, emphasise skills, limit it to two pages… But it still reads like an executive CV because it reflects an executive career.

Of the five meetings I’ve had this week, one was with a head hunter, who after talking to me said she understood much more about me than my CV represented. Clearly my CV is not doing its job! With some of her comments in mind, I am now working on making the CV one page and rather than talking about where I have been, will try to have it reflect what I have done that will have relevance to boards. Seemingly the same thing as I was doing before; but perhaps the titles of the executive roles create a perception that the words that follow don’t necessarily dispel. Turning my CV on its head is going to be a challenge, perhaps a bit like turning myself inside out. But a different perspective will be a good thing. After all, that is part of the value of a good NED.

Coffee count: 135

Stalking vs keeping in touch

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In the process of doing the coffee rounds for a little over a year, I have been seeking people’s advice and suggestions as to how to build a portfolio of non-exec directorships. The purpose of meeting with people has also been to try to put myself into people’s frames of view and make them aware of my skills, so that they might think of me when a role arises.

So now it’s time to go back to many of the directors and headhunters to tell them I’m still around and looking for roles. Unfortunately, I don’t have much new to tell them! Will I look like a loser if I say “Hi there, still out there looking. Only changes to my CV are that I’ve taken on people’s advice as to how to describe my skills”? Or do I say “Just keeping in touch. You said the search would take a while and it is. I’m still out here”?

Most of these people are busy people and I don’t want to keep emailing them with nothing new to tell them. But how does one keep front of mind if one doesn’t? Don’t want to be seen as a stalker, or even worse, a persistent sales person (because let’s face it, one has to sell oneself in this process). I’m going to go with a space of 6-12 months to reconnect with people. Ultimately, persistence has to be seen as a good attribute……doesn’t it?

Coffee count: 130

Introduction

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I took a career break in the second half of 2011, having spent 25 years working, much of that on a full-time basis. While it was confounding to me that with “nothing to do” I was busy all day, it was a nice change to be able to sit and have a coffee, read the papers and solve the problems of the world economy at my kitchen table.

With the benefit of some time and space to reflect, I realised that I didn’t necessarily want to be in the “cut and thrust” of an executive role any more. My preference was to consider a variety of business issues and help to solve problems. A portfolio of non-executive directorships and consulting work seemed to be the solution. After all, an experienced female NED had said to be me five years before that if I still wanted to roll up my sleeves and fix things, then I wasn’t ready for NED roles. Having spent the interim five years with not only my sleeves rolled up but my nose to the grindstone, I was ready to operate at the next level.

Seems that the Australian Institute of Company Directors’ (AICD) Company Directors Course was a necessity, and worthwhile. Then started the serious process of breaking into the NED space. It’s a process of writing and rewriting one’s CV and developing an appropriate elevator pitch. It’s also a process of meeting lots of people and continuing to expand one’s circle of contacts.

For the record, as I start this blog, I’m up to 126 coffees; coffee meetings that is. Truth is I’ve drunk many more coffees than that in the past year! Seems like a long way to go. On the other hand, if you divide it by 42 weeks (I’ll explain why the 10 week absence in another entry), it comes to an average of three coffees a week. For each coffee meeting, there are emails seeking introductions to the person, emails and/or phone calls to arrange it, research about the person and so on. That alone is a part-time job. But I have resolved to up the pace this year, even if it means I might have to have to add green tea to my choice of beverage.

About Dina Coppel

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