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.
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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.
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For a complimentary 1-hour consultation, email: [email protected]

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.
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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.
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For a complimentary 1-hour consultation, email: [email protected]

A recent study, “What Do Corporate Directors and Senior Managers Know about Social Media?”, conducted by the Conference Board and the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University showed that LinkedIn was the most used social media website among the sample group, with 80 percent having a LinkedIn account. Nearly two-thirds of executives and directors polled used social media for professional purposes. Their activities included reading blogs, online forums and message boards and watching videos that relate to their business. Key points for board candidate networking are to keep focused, create communications that can be measured, refined, and mapped back to your goal. Examples:

1. Targeting - focus and refine your campaign with review and adjustment of best traction efforts

2. Engagement - create and fuel value-based interactions and content delivery

3. Analytics - measure your marketing and networking effectiveness

4. Marketing Technology - using tools and systems to streamline tasks

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.
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For a complimentary 1-hour consultation, email: [email protected]

I continue to get questions about the role of social media in board networking and how to create an impressive online presence.  As many of you know, I just finished writing the Board Guru™ Becoming a Public Company Director: Social Media Strategies. So this week I was intrigued when I read that Enterasys — a wireless network provider — will be considering applicants for a six-figure senior social media position, but NO paper résumés will be accepted (recruiting solely via Twitter). No doubt we are becoming habituated to social media. The best social media site to build your board-level online presence is LinkedIn. The use of LinkedIn can include posting relevant content in board-focused groups and use the feature provided to tweet those posts at the same time you make them live on LinkedIn. LinkedIn also provides a way to upload your video resume and add personal recommendations. All of this activity will build your profile ranking on LinkedIn; my LinkedIn profile made the Top 1% most viewed LinkedIn profiles for 2012! In the world of director search, you still need a paper resume (your tweets have not replaced a board resume) but to be seen as current you need a robust LinkedIn profile. 

A number of you have asked about the role of LinkedIn in board networking and how to create executive-level self-promotion.  Social media has become the fastest adopted form of media in human history.  While we are still in the early stages of this phenomenon, I do think that dedicated time networking on LinkedIn is well spent. Once I reached the level of posting strategic content based on my expertise in LinkedIn groups (once a week with content from my Board Guru™ eBooks), I had my first client within 90 days in the fourth quarter of 2012. I do not think that the fundamentals of how a director search is done will change dramatically; I do think that a focused effort on LinkedIn will provide visibility and introduction. For example, you can join my Board Guru™ LinkedIn group and meet executive recruiters, sitting directors and director candidates. (For more tips, see Becoming a Public Company Director: Social Media Strategies) To help you begin your own executive-level conversation on LinkedIn, here are a few ideas:

1. Use your content.  Write a piece of 200 – 300 words on a board-focused topic you are an expert on.  Add a call to conversation at the end. One of the best examples of this type of post is done by Lucy P. Marcus on LinkedIn.

2. Share event key thoughts. Contribute some of the substantive thoughts, what your learned or what surprised you from a conference or webinar you attended.

3. Best Practices. Pick a topic and share the story with the best practices used or learned.

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]

A number of you have asked for ideas that would help you gain a focus for your social media plan. Here are a few tips:

1. Start your social media self-promotion plan in phases. First you must get clarity around your goal. Then determine how much time you want to dedicate to your online presence. In my new ebook, Becoming a Public Company Director: Social Media Strategies I provide suggestions that will help you define your board-level expertise, and ultimately integrate all activities into one fully realized strategic marketing plan.

2. Join a few LinkedIn groups that have a board focus. Find the social network that will help you reach your goal. Identify where your audience is online and work from there. Having a few, established social media destinations is better than having a dozen that make keeping in touch too much of a commitment.

3. Be consistent in your self-branding. Write ONLY about subjects related to your board-level expertise - it is your brand.

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]

A number of you have asked for ideas that would help maximize your efforts to gain a public company board seat. Here are a few tips:

1. Add a video to your LinkedIn Summary section. A 2-minute video is an excellent way for recruiters and others to have access to a quick summary of your board-level expertise.

2. Expand the descriptive words in your LinkedIn Professional Headline section. Increase your visibility by adding words that recruiter might use in a director search such as independent director or board of directors.

3. Read the Board Guru™ eBook - Becoming a Public Company Director ($9.99).

 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]