ith 332 million users and two people joining a second, LinkedIn is the top-of-mind network for professionals looking to advance their careers. LinkedIn offers five significant opportunities to expand your network that save time and escalate your visibility – marketing, branding, networking, communicating and researching people. Below are three areas to focus your efforts:

Compose: Use the tools LinkedIn provides to share your expertise. For written work, use the Long-form Post feature and start discussions in groups with board-level discussions. To showcase your materials on your profile, use the LinkedIn Professional Portfolio capabilities to upload media or point to websites that include:

• Examples of your work
• Written or video testimonials
• Presentations you have made

Connect: Add connections consistently and strategically. Target the people you want to connect with and the groups you want to join. LinkedIn now limits the number of searches you can do each month so be thoughtful by using key words such as board of directors, independent directors and CEO. (As of the writing of this post, the number of searches allowed has not been disclosed).

Consistency: Consistency is one of the cornerstones of a successful marketing strategy on LinkedIn. By coordinating your efforts, you can amplify your message and reach a much larger audience. This can be done by using the appropriate keywords in your written material and branding statements that are in keeping with your board-level value proposition. You can also leverage group activities by posting and commenting within your brand.

Interested in more information?  “Edge Up YOUR LinkedIn Presence to Gain That Corporate Board Seat.” http://women2boards.com/webinars/linkedingainboardseat/

A great resource for director candidates is an ebook: Becoming a Public Company Director: Social Media Strategies.

Tracy E. Houston, M.A. is the President of Board Resources Services, LLC. She is a refined specialist in board consulting and executive coaching with a heartfelt passion for rethinking performance, teams, and the boardroom. With a focus on leadership, strategy, and risk management, she consults primarily with directors, presidents, and senior officers to provide input on high level, sensitive, and complex issues. Sometimes called the Chief Potential Officer, Tracy has a background that includes sitting on a number of boards, board consulting, and coaching for potential. She develops unique insights into the vital role of human interaction and the inevitable fusion between barriers to growth and success. Extensively published, Tracy has written hundreds of blogs that are featured on numerous award-winning websites and has a monthly board column hosted by ColoradoBiz Magazine. She is the creator of the Board Guru™ eBooks –a corporate governance leadership series. 

Her company, Board Resource Services, has a website at www.eboardmember.com and www.eboardguru.com. Follow Tracy on Twitter @BoardGuru. Headquartered in the Denver, Colorado area, Tracy is an avid hiker.
​
For a complimentary 1-hour consultation, email: [email protected]

1. Tie your strengths to accomplishments. First prioritize your strengths in relationship to a board seat. Then, show progress over your career of how you matured in the areas that are part of your board-level value proposition.
2. Get recommendations that speak to your strengths. Leverage the experience of top-level executives to enhance your network. If you presented to boards or worked with board committees, this is the very best place to ask for a recommendation.
3. List your promotions. Throughout your career you have moved up the ladder. Highlight this with bullets in each position. This should also include your non-profit work.
4. Use keywords in the title line. You are allowed 100 characters in your experience titles. Use all the space by adding keywords. For a CIO you might list: CIO, Technology Strategist and CEO Advisor.
5. Define and use keywords. Use keywords from your board-level value proposition. Be sure to use your most important keywords numerous times. This will optimize your chances to be found when searches are done.

Interested in more information? Join us Wednesday, March 4, 2015 at 9:00 a.m. PT, for an in-depth webinar titled “Edge Up YOUR LinkedIn Presence to Gain That Corporate Board Seat.” Register here: http://women2boards.com/webinars/linkedingainboardseat/
A great resource for director candidates is an ebook: Becoming a Public Company Director: Social Media Strategies (Amazon, Barnes, iBookstore $9.99).

           Consultant to Boards, Author of Board Guru™ eBook Series and Previous Sitting Director
                                                   – Triple Crown Value Proposition

Tracy E. Houston, M.A. is the President of Board Resources Services, LLC. She is a refined specialist in board consulting and executive coaching with a heartfelt passion for rethinking performance, teams, and the boardroom. With a focus on leadership, strategy, and risk management, she consults primarily with directors, presidents, and senior officers to provide input on high level, sensitive, and complex issues. Sometimes called the Chief Potential Officer, Tracy has a background that includes sitting on a number of boards, board consulting, and coaching for potential. She develops unique insights into the vital role of human interaction and the inevitable fusion between barriers to growth and success. Extensively published, Tracy has written hundreds of blogs that are featured on numerous award-winning websites and has a monthly board column hosted by ColoradoBiz Magazine. She is the creator of the Board Guru™ eBooks –a corporate governance leadership series.

Her company, Board Resource Services, has a website at www.eboardmember.com and www.eboardguru.com. Follow Tracy on Twitter @BoardGuru. Headquartered in the Denver, Colorado area, Tracy is an avid hiker.
​
For a complimentary 1-hour consultation, email: [email protected]

                    Below are a few resources to gain insights into bank boardroom trends.

• Key Considerations for Building Successful Bank Board
• Bank Boards are Set to Undergo Further Transformation – PDF
• Bank Board Risk Governance
• Bank Board Oversight: The Case for a Separate Risk Committee
• Board Governance: Higher Expectations, Better Practices? – PDF
• Is the Bar Too Low to Join a Bank Board in the U.S.? – video
• Regulators Intensify Scrutiny of Bank Boards

 
                                            Ready to optimize your efforts to gain a board seat?
                                            Schedule a complimentary introductory consultation.
 
                                             Start your journey to the boardroom today!
                                           [email protected] | www.eboardmember.com
 
               Consultant to Boards, Author of Board Guru™ eBook Series and Previous Sitting Director
                                                          – Triple Crown Value Proposition

Tracy E. Houston, M.A. is the President of Board Resources Services, LLC. She is a refined specialist in board consulting and executive coaching with a heartfelt passion for rethinking performance, teams, and the boardroom. With a focus on leadership, strategy, and risk management, she consults primarily with directors, presidents, and senior officers to provide input on high level, sensitive, and complex issues. Sometimes called the Chief Potential Officer, Tracy has a background that includes sitting on a number of boards, board consulting, and coaching for potential. She develops unique insights into the vital role of human interaction and the inevitable fusion between barriers to growth and success. Extensively published, Tracy has written hundreds of blogs that are featured on numerous award-winning websites and has a monthly board column hosted by ColoradoBiz Magazine. She is the creator of the Board Guru™ eBooks - a corporate governance leadership series.

For many years the public company boardroom was best described as staid. The factors that
created this reflected the former business environment that was not faced with the amount of
disruptive changes, regulation, and shareholder activism companies face in the 21st century.
Today, we are seeing a number of changes, including more rigorous director selection, and the
director who is past his or her sell-by date will not be placed on a board. As corporate boards
become modern and progressive they are open to more diverse sources of director candidates.
This change translates into a window of opportunity for those seeking to get on a board,
ultimately making the candidate selection process increasingly competitive. The savvy board
candidate must know exactly how he or she will add value to a board and present that at the
interviews in a clear, concise manner. To highlight the importance of this, ask yourself this
question: If you can’t ace the interview, how will the directors feel about having you on the
board? You may very well be board ready and qualified to be on the board, but not firing on all
cylinders during the interview will diminish your chances of gaining a board seat. First
impressions count immensely!

Being an outstanding candidate in a director interview takes dedicated work and effort, and
comes with a fair amount of stress. For some, the interview and selection process can be
categorically intimidating. Think about preparing for a board interview in the same way you
would for a TED Talk. If you don’t know your stuff cold, it will be the kiss of death. It is
imperative that the candidate have a relevance telescope that highlights what really matters and
creates a successful director interview presence.

Below are a few “ insider” tips that make for some of the best communication and deadliest mistakes.

Do present well-constructed ideas of how you would add value to the board using phrases like, “I may be able to help here,” or “You might consider the idea of my expertise on the board in this way.”
Don’t lecture and make outright statements about how you think the board should operate.

Do maintain a balance of exchange in the interviews.
Don’t talk excessively or to the point you are dominating the conversation, unless asked.

Do state a few highpoints about the company that made an impression on you.
Don’t lavish too much praise about the company.

Do draw on specific, related experience working on other boards and committees.
Don’t overstate the value of your work on non-profit boards.
​
Do demonstrate your willingness and readiness for the pressures of hard work.
Don’t overstate the operational role, as the board has a tone and tenure that is unique.

Interviewing for a board seat is like no other interview. I have observed both “bests and blunders” in many candidate interviews. Without fail, this high-level interview brings to light behavior under the influence of stress. At the time of this writing, there are few publications, if any, that address the needs of director candidates in an interview process. My new eBook Becoming a Public Company Director: Interview Strategies offers key insights that can be applied to the director search interview process.
 

​To compile a “best reads” list for corporate directors and director candidates is a challenge that keeps me on the cutting edge.  Feel free to just review the list, provide feedback on what you like and challenge what you feel is not worthy of the list- maybe even make suggestions about what to read next.
 
1) Creating Value from Long-Term Bets
By Wendell P. Weeks
Commentary McKinsey Quarterly
 
2) Are Today’s Corporate Directors More Personally Liable?
“Inside America’s Boardrooms” Katherine Henderson, Partner, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, joins TK Kerstetter,
 
3) Board Directors, Executives See Uncertainty and Volatility Threatening Corporate Strategy: KPMG Survey
PRNewswire
 
4) Three Areas Where Boards Can Improve Performance
“Inside America’s Boardrooms” Ty Francis (EVP & Group Publisher, Ethisphere Institute) joins TK Kerstetter
 
5) Toward a Value-Creating Board
Contributors to the development and analysis of this survey include Conor Kehoe, a director in McKinsey’s London office; Frithjof Lund, a principal in the Oslo office; and Nina Spielmann, a specialist in the Zurich office.
 
6) Americans and CEO Pay: 2016 Public Perception Survey on CEO Compensation
By David F. Larcker, Nicholas E. Donatiello, Brian Tayan
CGRI Survey Series. Corporate Governance Research Initiative, Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance,
 
7) Special Report on Business Ethics: Enhancing Corporate Governance
Knowledge@Wharton first in a series of four special reports on business ethics in collaboration with AKO Foundation
 
8) Succeeding in the New Paradigm for Corporate Governance  
By Martin Lipton
Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation Forum
 
9) GE Debuts Integrated Summary
By David Bogoslaw
Corporate Secretary
 
10) Compensation Committee Guide
By Michael J. Segal, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation Forum
 
 

To compile a “best reads” list for corporate directors and director candidates is a challenge that keeps me on the cutting edge.  Feel free to just review the list, provide feedback on what you like and challenge what you feel is not worthy of the list- maybe even make suggestions about what to read next.

1) A New Paradigm for Corporate Governance
By Martin Lipton
Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation Forum

2) Why More Corporate Board Candidates Are Saying ‘No’ to the Job
By Chana Schoenberger
Bloomberg Business

3) Understanding the US Listing Gap
By René Stulz, Professor of Finance at Ohio State University
Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation Forum

4) The Short-Termism Debate: Are There D&O Liability Issues Involved, Too?
By Kevin M. LaCroix
The D & O Dairy

5) Put the House in Order: An Interview with Former European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet
BCG Perspectives

6) CalSTRS Issues Board Composition Best Practices
By Marketwired

7) Making the Case for a Security Committee of the Board
By Catherine A. Allen
Shared Assessments Blog

8) Even Companies Facing Strong Economic Headwinds Can Deliver Superior Shareholder Value
BCG’s Annual Value Creators Report

9) Capital Allocation: From Back Office to Boardroom
KPMG Audit Committee Institute

10) Future Boardroom Issues That Will Challenge Directors
“Inside America’s Boardrooms” David Chun, CEO at Equilar, joins TK Kerstetter,

Warren Buffet says, “The best way to affect the behavior of board members is to embarrass them.” While this statement may have some truth, there are better ways to advance change for competitive advantage in the boardroom.

To have the board aid in creating competitive advantage is an important mindset. Think of it this way. In a pre-IPO company, a board may decide that the best board candidate is an executive that has taken a company public. The candidate's knowledge and experience in the investment banking world and contacts on Wall Street will add value at the top of the house. But once the company is moving forward, this board member may not have the same value. Now, maybe the strategic plan for the company is to grow the business in China. The board may then decide the best candidate is an executive with extensive knowledge and experience in China. This does not mean that there is a lack of competency in the director that was recruited to help with the IPO. Rather, it is an alignment of knowledge and experience based on strategy and risk. The overall philosophy is that knowledge and experience does not go into perpetuity. Even the best-managed companies aren't exempt from the inevitable clash between whirlwind change and corporate inertia. With the pace of change accelerating, boards need to be flexible and agile. They must be able to understand the task that management has in the 21st century - to be able to quickly adjust to market developments and be wise in reallocating resources to new opportunities.

Creating a 21st century board means making significant transitions towards more future-focused leadership behaviors and practices. Rethinking both how new directors are recruited and successfully retained can provide a progressive focus to a director search. Targeting candidates whose backgrounds speak to these areas will ultimately bring a honed perspective for competitive advantage. Here are a few areas to consider when thinking about your next board member:

Growth: Does the candidate have a track record in growth situations?

Innovation: Does the candidate have experience with innovative cultures?

Ambidexterity: Does the candidate have foresight into new markets while appreciating legacy positions?

For his whole career John* built an arsenal of achievements that did not end once he became a C-suite executive. His success was noted in a number of ways. He was highly respected, called on to speak at leading industry events and his advice was sought after in private meetings. He had a strong sense of accomplishment and was happy with how his career had progressed.

Eventually, the full life of an executive lost its appeal and he decided to retire. He was comfortable with his financial position and was ready to have a new life -one that he could relax and enjoy all he had made so many sacrifices for.

Except that he immediately felt like he fell off a cliff. Retirement was more than just making an adjustment. The lack of stimulation and “being in the game” left him with a deep sense of being displaced. Even depressed.

I have worked with a number of highly accomplished executives that reflect this story. The CEO of an energy company. A high-profile attorney. The president of a top-ranked division in a public company. An internationally known government official. These are real-life stories that represent the need to rewire not retire.

They all have several things in common: They were highly engaged and successful over most of their adult life. They had the financial means that allowed for a comfortable life. And, more importantly, they found the idea of traditional retirement did not work for them.

High achievers may not be aware that they have a honed ability to stay relevant. They just have lived this through leadership positions. In other words, their decisions for years have affected people, processes and projects. Their advice, much sought after, had a sage quality that garnered immediate attention. They mattered.

Are you one of these people? If so, are you ignoring the question of how you will rewire your life?

But how does one rewire when looking at their career trajectory before taking a retirement package?

The savvy board candidate takes the time to plan and even hires a coach to help with this career transition.

Thinking about what will be your new direction and then applying specific skills requires a change in perspective that includes both creating and preserving.

Creating. In the creation mode, we can image what our life will look like. This can be clear direction on what boards to approach, what content to create for publication, opportunities to be an adjunct professor, and what subjects to speak on at events. The challenge is to do it by choice before an exit is taken. Stripped of the identity and relevancy gained from employment we can become vulnerable to boredom, dislocation and depression.

Preserving. To preserve may not sound as fun as creating but it is an important element to avoid the feelings of being stranded or lost after a career exit. It requires a thoughtful process that identifies what served us well and will continue to be part of our new life. This framework connects advancement and improvement with keeping a few elements of our previous life. They can be leadership competencies that are very important and should not be undervalued when applied to your vision of the next stage in your life.

I recently completed a coaching engagement for a consultant who, nearing retirement, wanted to rewire not retire. Our main goal was for her to gain a public company board seat but we also did an assessment to identify primary drivers around personal passions and identified non-profit boards to begin relationships with.  Then, with the “calendar analysis,” we matched up work activities with driver fulfillment/payoffs. After our engagement, the candidate began networking for a board seat and was appointed to a NYSE company, began teaching a course as an adjunct professor and approached several non-profit organizations to start volunteer work and board membership. The sensitive integration of these activities represents some of the fruits of the coaching engagement. What the candidate was doing now mattered and it also mattered to those involved in her new life.

Relevancy, as long as we maintain it, is rewarding on almost every level. But when we lose it? Exiting a long, successful career can be painful.

Many of us (though not all) would relish a few days by ourselves, knowing that what we’re doing doesn’t matter to the world. But 10? 20? Even 30 plus years?

Will you rewire or retire?

*Not his real name.
​
Tracy E. Houston, M.A. is the President of Board Resources Services, LLC. She is a refined specialist in board consulting and executive coaching with a heartfelt passion for rethinking performance, teams, and the boardroom. With a focus on leadership, strategy, and risk management, she consults primarily with directors, presidents, and senior officers to provide input on high level, sensitive, and complex issues. Sometimes called the Chief Potential Officer, Tracy has a background that includes sitting on a number of boards, board consulting, and coaching for potential. She develops unique insights into the vital role of human interaction and the inevitable fusion between barriers to growth and success. Extensively published, Tracy has written hundreds of blogs that are featured on numerous award-winning websites and has a monthly board column hosted by ColoradoBiz Magazine. She is the creator of the Board Guru™ eBooks –a corporate governance leadership series. 

Her company, Board Resource Services, has a website at www.eboardmember.com and www.eboardguru.com. Follow Tracy on Twitter @BoardGuru. Headquartered in the Denver, Colorado area, Tracy is an avid hiker.
​
For a complimentary 1-hour consultation, email: [email protected]