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