I would like to get a Non Executive Director role

This is my top summary of the lessons learned and things you can do to help improve your chances of appointment to a NED position for a listed organisation.

1. One of the best paths to get to a NED role is via a C-Suite role.  If you are a CEO, CFO or similar, especially on a listed company, you have a much better chance of getting a NED position.  You are already part of the club and a known entity regarding performance, behaviour and culture at the executive board level.
2. Network, network, network, and the best networking activities are ones where you will meet members of boards, especially chair people.  There were several stories told at the events describing how an individual got shortlisted on a board and almost all of them involved being recommended by someone on the board.
3. Chairpeople of listed companies are a “network” of their own, and they are aware when board positions are coming up, or vacancies exist within the network.  This is one of the reasons why once you get a board position it becomes easier to get asked to consider another board.  The chair people talk and ask each other “who do you know….”?
4. Recruiters are the least efficient route.  Sorry to any recruiters reading this but across the individual women who had been appointed to a board none of them had gotten the position through a recruiter.  In fact, there were examples where the recruiters were aware of the candidate, did not shortlist them for the role, and at the end of the day, they were appointed because – see point 2.
5. Target which board you want and then build a pitch for selling you to that board.  Call up the chairperson or another member of that board and give them the pitch.  It might not come to anything but – see point 2 and 3.  If they liked what they heard, the next time someone asks them “who do you know?” they will be aware of you, what you want to do and how you add value.
6. The competencies, skills and experience of what they think they want from a new board member will change after they talk to people.  You thought you were the perfect match to their specification and then they changed the spec. 
7. Make sure you have good financial literacy.
8. Start with a smaller board including not for profits.  Unless you are a CEO of a listed company the chances of getting on an FTSE board, as your first board, is almost impossible.
9. Don’t expect communication back regarding the status of your interest or application.  The “applicant management” portion of the board recruitment process is very poor.  Speaking from personal experience – you are lucky to get any communication other than “we received your CV”.  In many cases, you don’t even know if they filled the role or are still looking.

1.  Make sure you want to be a NED.  There are many other ways you can add value to an organisation.  Be an advisor or coach or sit on a subcommittee.  Before you start the journey make sure you want to get to the destination.
2. Have patience – especially if you are looking for an FTSE role.  If you do the maths – across the 350 FTSE companies, there is an average of 12 board positions per company.  The average term is three years, and unless something happens, a NED tends to stay at least 2-3 terms (so 6-9 years).  There are approximately 4000 NED positions available in the FTSE 350 where perhaps 500 might come up for appointment per year.  Of that 400 many will never get out of the “I know someone…” process.  Patience and being ready for when you get an opportunity is vital.
3. And to be ready, you need a board CV (not an executive CV), in-depth research on the organisation, support from your network to help make connections and clear articulation on how you are going to add value to that specific board.

Various organisations can help you with your journey to a NED position.  Women on Boards is an excellent choice to give you the support you want or need to be ready when that call comes.

If you want help with your NED CV then consider attending a Getting Started workshop or webinar run by WOBUK and talk a look at WOB's resource centre which has tips on writing a board CV - Link