Tag Archives: Australian Institute of Company Directors

Find a sponsor or be prepared to be very brave

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twoespressosSome 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

The box conundrum

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coffees4This 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…..

The inevitable dip

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coffees2It’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)