Category Archives: Becoming a NED

Find a sponsor or be prepared to be very brave

Some months ago I was at a charity lunch and had the pleasure of meeting a two accomplished women. One was about to finish her current executive role and was planning to develop a portfolio of non-executive directorships. She was already on a couple of community and not-for-profit boards. The other was an experienced company director. By the time we left the lunch, I realised that the experienced director was clearly a sponsor of the first woman, as she was very busy introducing her to others and arranging for her to meet people.

Six months later, the aspiring non-executive director has been appointed to the boards of three listed companies.

Let it be said, I am delighted for this female director for having been able to achieve her goals so well and so quickly. She is clearly talented and brings a particular skill set that is needed by the boards that she has joined. But I have no doubt that having a sponsor who was proactively putting the aspiring director forward would have helped immensely.

For without a sponsor, you have to go it alone. You have to have lots of coffees, develop a profile, speak with headhunters and generally put yourself forward wherever possible, without at the same time looking desperate! You do have to be prepared to be “out there”. And without a clear sponsor, you need to be brave. You may have to ask others to introduce you to third parties or even recommend you to a particular chairman for a particular board.

Not everyone has a sponsor, but if you can find one, make the most of the opportunity. Having someone open the doors for you, be thinking of you and promoting you without your prompting, or even at your suggestion, is a very powerful tool in the world where personal recommendations mean so much. If appropriate, be brave and ask someone to be your sponsor or champion, if you are confident that they know you and would be pleased to recommend you.

However, just because you don’t have a sponsor doesn’t mean you can’t get the roles you want. It just may take more time and effort. You will have to be prepared to take measures into your own hands. There is no doubt, it does take a certain amount of bravery and confidence. You have to “lean in” and push yourself out. But if you have the right skills and experience, and enough people know about you, the right roles will eventuate.

Coffee count: 391

When life gets in the way

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Almost seven months since the last entry. My apologies to anyone who follows this blog and expected regular entries! The title of this post gives some explanation for my absence. The past few months have been challenging for many reasons including time allocation, and unfortunately, keeping up the blog has been one of the things to lapse, along with time for social coffees!

My role as chairman of the board has continued apace, with plenty of change management issues arising both around the board table and within the business. It really has been a lesson in the effectiveness of a collaborative approach. While each new issue arose through a phone call or email to me, it has been satisfying that the resolution has always been arrived at through working with others around the table, sharing ideas and having the opportunity to offer alternative ideas. Influence and persuasion are key skills, but one can’t use persuasion without reason, listening to and acknowledging others’ concerns and, where possible, finding ways to accommodate other points of view.

The not-for-profit board role that I continue to have a passion for, have also continued with their usual ebbs and flows – nothing for a period and then a surge. Similarly, my corporate consulting practice has had its moments of intensity. At the same time, I have started to seek to establish networks for my Asian sojourn. The Asialink Leaders Program has provided insights, knowledge and perspectives that have challenged my own perceptions. This was why I undertook the course, so the learnings are welcome as are the opportunities to meet other people engaged in building working relationships with people and organisations throughout Asia.

I have also visited Singapore a few times and begun the “coffee networking” process there. People have been welcoming and positive and I am grateful to those who have willingly introduced me to others. The ‘six degrees of separation’ adage has proved to be even closer at times, and there will many connections to be made. How many will eventually lead to the growth in my non-executive director portfolio is yet to be seen, but I will persist.

While all this continues, the realities of domestic life have had to be dealt with. Three children (one living away from home at university, one in her final year at school with a load of extra-curricular activities as well, and one dealing with the prospect of moving schools and countries at the end of the year) require time and focus. At the other end of the age spectrum are parents with significant health issues: hospitals, specialists, care at home – all to be dealt with. Not to mention the process of planning an international move, selling the family home and so on.

It has been a juggling process and I am grateful to not have had a full-time role but rather the flexibility to be able to manage – provided I don’t count on much sleep! However, I have found an appreciation for the sentiments expressed in Anne-Marie Slaughter’s new book “Unfinished Business: Women Men Work Family”. You may recall that she was a director in the US State Department who left her job to spend more time with her two teenage sons. In her new book, she notes “we often cannot control the fate or our career and family”. She goes on to say that the one of the reasons women struggle in the workplace is a systematic imbalance in the esteem granted to “two complementary human drives: competition, the impulse to purse our self-interest in a world in which others are pursuing theirs, and care, the impulse to put other first.” There will always be times that the drive to care will override the drive to compete – but companies must be able to develop policies that accommodate this. There does seem to be a start in Australian business, particularly encouraged by the Male Champions of Change process, but there’s a long way to go.

Nevertheless, the 1000 coffees process has continued and I am back on track – focusing on the changes that lie ahead as well as reflecting on the lessons learned from the roles that now approach their conclusion. Hopefully I will be able to share some of the outputs.

Coffee count: 385

My Asian pivot …….1000 Green teas

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While it has been a few months since my last blog, it has not been an uneventful period. Being Chairman has been quite consuming, with lots of lessons learnt along the way. Watch out for future blogs
on robust conversations, the board’s role in changing culture and the challenge of leading. It has also been an interesting time as I have come to terms with a new challenge (because life as a woman and mother aspiring to be a non-executive director isn’t challenging enough)!

With the Asian Century well underway, opportunities beckon for all. My incredibly supportive and encouraging husband has taken on a wonderful pan-Asian role, based in Singapore and at the end of 2015, I will relocate to Singapore to join him. Having just marked the week of mourning of the late Lee Kwan Yew, many will be well aware of Singapore’s great success of the last 50 years and the place it has earned itself as one of the wealthiest states in the world. It is a city that pulses with activity and has a key role as a trading and financial hub within Asia.

So while it has been a challenge to develop a portfolio of non-executive directorships in Australia, I have just made that challenge all the more interesting. I will have to develop new networks and I suspect that will involve many more cups of coffee …… or green tea. Recognising the need to be more savvy about the economics, politics, history and culture of the many countries across Asia, I have embarked on the Asialink Future Leaders Program. To date, it has been a fascinating experience, with focuses on China, India and Japan as well as extensive discussion of cultural intelligence and exposure to Asian culture through art.

Armed with at least an initial understanding of Asia, my aim will be to bring my governance experience and revenue focus to the attention of Asian companies seeking to deal with Australia or Australian companies seeking to engage with Asia. Either way, it should be a great learning experience. Watch this space as I try to share the knowledge.

Coffee count: 330

View from the other side – CVs

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There is probably a little bit of irony given that this blog documents my search for a non-executive director portfolio, that many of the coffees I have had since the last post have been to recruit new directors rather than to be recruited myself.

One of the tasks that I have as the new chairman is to ensure that the two vacancies that will now be on our board with the retirement of past directors are filled. A review of the skills of the existing board members together with an understanding of directors’ future intentions have led us to seek to not only fill the existing vacancies but, to use a sporting analogy, develop a “bench” of potential future directors. Being a board made up of volunteers, we need to be as efficient as possible.

We were blessed with responses from quite a number of skilled and experienced applicants and as I sat and reviewed their covering letters and accompanying emails, I had a moment of clarity. A number of times over the past couple of years the advice I have received has been to ensure my CV expresses the value I can bring to a board (see Stalking vs keeping in touch and Morphing executive to non-executive). As I read through these CVs they all told me of the wonderful things they had achieved in their executive roles, the projects and people they had managed and what they had been or been doing for the past 15-30 years.

There was only one CV that addressed the skills that we might be looking for together with their experience. I found myself thinking “Yes, but what will you bring to the board?” or “What value do you add?” I could suddenly understand the perspective of people who have to read multiple CVs. It’s tough enough, but to have to distil for oneself the value someone might bring to the board rather than them spelling it out for me, made the process of reviewing the CVs much more laborious. And given that some CVs stretched to six pages and beyond – it really was work.

It is something I have tried to do before and as simple as it sounds, it’s not that simple, especially for someone who hasn’t sat on a board. Understanding how one’s skills might be utilised around a board table or in a board sub-committee is not easy to imagine if one hasn’t had the experience. Nevertheless, I think it is possible, it just requires a bit of effort and imagination, applying experience from working in meetings in other situations.

So I’m going back to review my CV again. I’ll be ensuring it stays at 1-2 pages and is easy for the reader to know what value and skills I can bring to their board.

Coffee count: 304

A new role

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In June last year, I was appointed to my first board, having sat as an observer for a couple of months before that. At the end of June this year, the directors of that board nominated me to be their Chairman, effective 1 July, taking over from the founding chairman. I have expressed thanks to the directors and appreciation for the confidence they have in me to chair the board at a time when the company looks to move into the next stage of its growth.

Within days of the board meeting, I was on a plane to spend a little over a week touring around Turkey with my oldest son, who was meeting me, having enjoyed the first half of his gap year overseas. While exploring the fascinating landscapes and history of Turkey, I took some time to reflect on the process to date of becoming a non-executive director and the expectations on me as a chairman. These expectations are both set by others and by the “a-type” personality that resides within!

In reflecting on the process to date, on the one hand, I should be pleased to have not only a chairman’s role but also have been appointed to the board of the foundation for an important cultural institution in Sydney. Both these roles provide me with opportunities to try to add value based on my previous executive and not-for-profit experience. They also provide me with challenging issues to consider, decisions on which require rigorous thought. On the other hand, I have now been knocked back for two listed board roles where in each case, it seemed I had the exact experience and skill set the board was looking for, with deep relevant industry experience and apparently glowing references. Both times at least one reason was that I didn’t have listed board experience.

I am persisting with my coffee meetings, but have not found large networking functions a worthwhile proposition. It only brings home the message that there are so many other people seeking the same roles!

So if I am to keep on doing what I’m doing, I can only hope to do the best I can in the roles I have and to gain further experience. While pondering this and stirring one of my many Turkish coffees, it struck me that the characteristics I would need to bring to the new chairman’s role were the same as the characteristics of a good Turkish coffee. Ground, cooked over a flame until just below the boil, Turkish coffee is best served strong and a little sweet. Leading a board through a period of change, particularly after having the same chairman for the past 10 years, is going to require me to at times be strong, to help the board approach things in a different way – more suited to that of an established rather than developing company. My aim is to lead from within, rather than from the front, but that will require ensuring I can bring everyone along. It will take an inner strength to know when to encourage others to adopt a different view or approach to the one from the past as well as to know when I should allow others to lead and direct a course of action. At the same time, as change isn’t always easy for some, even just the change in chairman and the way a meeting is run, so it will need sweetness in the form of recognition and consideration.

And with a new financial year, the coffee meetings need to ramp up again. Perhaps this year will bring another step in the process. After all, I still have 724 to go.

Coffee count: 276

(While it was a delightful experience to travel with my son, I don’t think it’s appropriate to count the coffees and glasses of raki that we shared!)

The box conundrum

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This past week I met with the chairman of a number of listed and unlisted boards and who has over 20 years of board experience. Introduced by a friend of mine who happens to be an executive member of one of those boards, he was aware that I was finding the process of building a portfolio of non-executive directorships harder than expected. This chairman is a willing mentor of women (and men) and has been a mentor in the AICD Chairmen’s Mentoring Program three times.

He told me that most of the people he meets with have been in a role or an industry for many years and have deep experience. Often they have been lawyers or consultants. They fit squarely in a particular box and in order to be attractive for board roles, they need to widen their experience and skill set. However, in my case, the chairman noted, I have had a broad range of experiences that have utilised a broad range of skills and I don’t seem to have a particular box to fit in! The problem with this, the chairman went on to say, is that people don’t know what I am good at. Generalists are not sought out anymore, people with particular skills or industry knowledge are.

Without trying to sound too frustrated, I pointed out to the chairman that rather than having stayed in one role for 25 years, I had chosen to try a few different roles and enhance a range of skills. However, I did feel there was a consistency across all my roles that focused on “top line revenue generation”. In other words, helping a business grow. Not unlike another senior board director I had spoken with, he noted that this was quite an executive trait. “You could be fielding calls from head-hunters for CEO roles,” he said. “I am” I replied. But surely a board needs people who understand the skills required for a business to grow and can ask and challenge the executives? That theory applies after all to industry knowledge, to financial management, to risk, and so on. After all, the 2014 AICD Conference later this month is all about growth.

I have to confess that following the meeting my mood was quite sombre for a while. Too much a generalist, not enough experience in big companies, no specific industry experience… It’s going to keep on being tough. Then I refocused and decided one meeting doesn’t determine my direction or my outcomes. It’s has to be about taking in the information and assimilating it with all the other information and advice. I could assure the chairman that I had spoken to most of the head-hunters in town, I had tried the government approach (admittedly with little successful penetration to date) and I was doing the networking. I am sitting on boards now and I know I am being effective. I also intuitively believe that working in a small or medium size business means one learns a lot more about business than working in one or two areas of a larger business (although I did work for an organisation that had 90,000 employees…).

The chairman did say that so often it is about serendipity and the planets being in alignment. I can’t help but think that the 1000 coffees along the way may assist the circumstances that eventuate in the “fortuitous happenstance”.

Coffee count: 253 coffees

Postscript: Following my last post, it may not surprise anyone that there hasn’t been a rash of offers from head-hunters or recruiters signing up to follow this blog. But I did have a call regarding a CEO role…..

Headhunters – respondents, facilitators or change agents?

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A couple of weeks ago the Australian Financial Review had an article that included an expressed frustration by shareholders of the approach major executive recruitment firms (I’m going to call them “headhunters” for readers’ ease) take to recruiting non-executive directors for boards. The claim was made that headhunters like to play it safe and thus boards end up with the same names put forward, it not being in the headhunters’ interests to try to place someone on an ASX board that has not been on one before.

I have previously discussed in elsewhere in this blog the catch-22 that exists for aspiring non-executive directors in relation to prior experience. It was somehow heartening to read of the same in the pages of the newspaper.

In a best case scenario, a board seeking a new director (whether an ASX100 company or not) would have done a skills matrix of its existing directors, considered their tenures to date and future plans and accordingly, developed a brief for a headhunter to fulfil its succession planning requirements. The existing directors are likely to also apply their minds as to whom they know who might fulfil the requirements. Both groups will cast around amongst the people they know.

Director appointments are going to come either through a headhunter or one’s network. In the case of larger companies, it’s just as likely to be a combination of both, with one’s name needing to be on both lists. So aspirants have to keep meeting with headhunters as well as networking.

Of my 223 coffees to date, 19 of them have been with headhunters and there would be another few to whom I’ve been introduced but who haven’t met with me. They range from the blue-chip international firms to the sole operators. All have been polite and friendly. Only two have met with me a second time (across a two year period). Walking away from most, I’ve had the feeling that I wasn’t going to be on any of their lists any time soon.

I understand that from the headhunters’ perspective, they have a brief from the board or nominations committee and they need to fill it. I also appreciate that they need to earn a living and they do that by providing a service that their clients want. This is most easily achieved by putting forward a round peg for the proffered round hole. However, I’m going to go out on a limb (perhaps not for the first time) and challenge headhunters to consider encouraging their clients to look at whether in fact a not-round peg might also fit in that round hole. After all, Henry Ford’s potential customers thought they wanted faster horses but he gave them a car and Steve Jobs probably wouldn’t have developed the iPad if he had listened to those people saying they wanted a netbook to replace the laptop.

The need for diversity on boards is not just about reworking the gender balance. It’s about bringing fresh ideas and new perspectives to the board table. It’s about bringing people with experience in other industries who have the skills to translate the knowledge learned elsewhere into insights in a complementary or similar industry. Headhunters have a potentially fantastic opportunity to meet a variety of new people and with the real understanding of their clients needs’, persuade their clients to not just recruit more people like themselves, but rather, take the plunge into the area of diversity in a meaningful way.

Surely in this fast changing world, where technology drives so much, where globalisation breaks down international borders more easily and where the younger generation consume so much more than previous generations (both in terms of tangible goods and intangible information), boards and chairmen need people around the table who understand these influences. Today’s experts in social media are unlikely to have had ASX100 board experience. But it doesn’t mean that they lack governance skills and the difference between setting strategy and implementing it. And even if the newest member of the board doesn’t have the same depth of governance experience, then that is why there is a skills matrix so that others cover it and directors can cross-pollinate their experiences.

My hope is that both the headhunters and the boards who speak of diversity open their thinking to looking for aspiring directors who can assimilate current business challenges and synthesise them with an understanding of experiences elsewhere. Such people will bring insight and value to board discussions and deliberations.

And perhaps rather than just responding to standard briefs, headhunters should see themselves as agents of change and help Australian corporate boards become the new model for diversity, good governance and foresight.

Coffee count: 223

Lean In and Lean On

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One of the most talked about books in the area of Diversity in 2013 has been Sheryl Sandberg’s book, Lean In. In it, she encourages women to “step up” and not fall back into the common and usual female traits of letting our actions speak for us, and waiting for others to be our promoters. In many ways, I wish someone had given me such a book when I was starting my career. It would have served me well to know it was OK to speak out or speak up. I have recommended it to many young women this year.

It should be said, however, that clearly there are women speaking up and “leaning in” or women wouldn’t have made the advances that they have to date. The trailblazers did lean in and showed that it can be done. At the same time, as Elizabeth Broderick is showing with her Male Champions of Change, it can’t all be done by women either. Men need to help change the status quo and encourage and allow women to lean in.

While on the whole I do endorse Sheryl Sandberg’s exhortations and encouragement, there is one aspect of her own experiences that facilitated her career yet is not necessarily available for all women. For those who choose to have children, managing a career and raising a family is a challenge. This is true for men and women, but I’d venture to say it’s tougher for women. It is difficult to move full-steam ahead on all fronts at the same time. Some, like Sandberg, are lucky enough to have spouses or partners who can manage their jobs or careers to allow the mother to work – whether it is a combination of sharing the load or staying at home. Other women can outsource to family or paid help – whether childcare centres or nannies. Each should feel they can do what is right for them and not feel judged or criticised by others who may have made different choices.

But inevitably, children do grow up into young people and parents can’t outsource the necessity of instilling their own values into their children and guiding and supporting them. Children are not commodities – just to have and then move on – they require parental input and to that extent managing two big careers and bringing up children is a tremendous challenge.

To do so, inevitably one has to lean on others. Be it wider family members, one of the parents in a relationship taking a greater support role or a circle of friends (or all of the above). Women very often think they have to do it themselves and be tough and manage it all. Women juggle multiple roles and fill up all available hours doing all the things that need to be done in order to keep moving forward and keep all the balls in the air. Recent experiences of family issues and personal health have reminded me that there is a circle of friends that I can lean on, just as many of them have leant on me from time to time. Without the ability to lean on, it can be tough to lean in.

This blog entry is dedicated to the circle of women, friends and mentors, whom I have been able to lean on. Thank you for being a support.

Coffee count: 212

Managing Expectations

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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

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

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