Board Success in 2024 – prepare now

The new year is when we all tend to focus on new life and professional goals. You should include your Board Career goals. If you have yet to gain a board seat or want one this year, now is the time to get started to ensure board success in 2024.  

Board success in 2024

There are several items you should focus on now, at the beginning of the year, to increase your chances of gaining a board seat in 2024.

ITEM 1: Define your board aspirations and realistic goals

• Take some time to set or reset your board aspirations. Success will be difficult if you don’t spend some quality time getting your board aspirations right.

Ask yourself:

• Are your aspirations realistic at this stage in your professional and board career?
• Were you unsuccessful in 2023 because you focused on the wrong organizations and board roles?
• If your 2023 board aspirations were not achievable, explore what you need to change to succeed in 2024.

ITEM 2 – Consider your executive career

• Ensure you consider where serving on a board in 2024 fits with your current executive career and career goals. Taking on a board seat may take time away from your executive and family commitments. You should also consider the time and emotional commitment required to find and gain a board seat. At the same time, consider the positives; the professional and personal rewards of serving on a board or committee are substantial.
• If you already have a board seat, it may be that you are considering another, and for good reasons. Those who hold multiple board directorships are proven adopters of sound business practices and advocate innovation across organizations and industries.

ITEM 3: Refresh your professional brand

• Your professional brand must include your board-level and/or strategic achievements and reflect your board aspirations. You never know who you may come in contact with will be that vital connection to a board seat.
• So, now is the time to write or refresh your board profile. Then, it is essential that you can pitch it confidently. You need to know your value at board level and where it fits in the board marketplace. Your board pitch must be memorable and able to separate yourself from the competition.
• Your Board Resume is also a part of your professional brand. It should be quite different from your Executive Resume. If you don’t have one, writing this document may help refine your unique skill sets and define your professional brand. If you have one, ensure it is up to date or could it benefit from a refresh.

ITEM 4: Looking for board roles

• Based on your board aspirations, you should look for appropriate board opportunities and sources of board roles. If you are looking for board success in 2024, you must be present and active on LinkedIn. Many organizations and most search firms will use LinkedIn to find potential board candidates and advertise board vacancies. 
• Aspiring independent board directors say that finding suitable board roles is one of the most time-consuming parts of the process. This is because over 80% of board vacancies are never advertised. My How to Unlock Board Opportunities masterclass will teach you how to find them.

ITEM 5: Develop new connections and leverage your old ones

• If you don’t know already, over 80% of board roles are filled without any formal application process – using neither an advert nor a recruiter. Instead, they are filled via personal connections or by aspiring non-executive directors directly approaching companies with an offer to help.
• When connecting, make sure your efforts are consistent, sustained, and meaningful. Take some to analyze, revise, refresh, and reconnect with your networks. Make sure you tell people that you are looking for a board seat – it could be the most valuable step you take to gain a board role. 

ITEM 6: Create an achievable plan and process

• Accountability is one of the main reasons why many fail to gain a board seat. Some of you will look back at 2023 and agree that this is where they failed. Starting the year with excitement and enthusiasm, only to have life or a lack of motivation get in the way. 
• Gaining a board seat is a process that takes time, perseverance and commitment. You need a forward-thinking plan broken down into achievable tasks and steps. Include potential pitfalls and roadblocks, with strategies for getting around them. Work on your board appointment plan regularly, and spend your time wisely. To do so, you need to build in accountabilities. Prioritize weekly tasks, assign time in your calendar, and review your board appointment plan quarterly. This way, you will have a clear plan for the next 12 months, with tasks to complete weekly and monthly.

In summary

People often have no idea where to start or what will or will not get them a board appointment. If you have been trying to develop a board career for a while, you should reflect on 2023 and consider what you did that you thought would result in a board seat but didn’t. If you are just starting out then it is worth thinking about what your plan is. In many cases, what you think will or should have worked simply doesn’t. 

I know, after two decades of putting people on boards, that four reasons will prevent you from gaining a board in 2024, whether it be your first role or a role that is part of a portfolio of board appointments. They are:

1. If you don’t know which organizations you both want and could be (based on your skills and experience) appointed to.
2. You cannot articulate your value to those organizations or recruiters compellingly.
3. You don’t understand how board appointments are actually made, so keep doing things that seem right but are not getting results.
4. You get frustrated and quit far too early in the process.

Unsurprisingly, each of these reasons can be fixed by adopting a simple and easy-to-implement plan. A plan that covers three core elements of the board appointment process. Utilising over two decades of board appointment and board appointment coaching board appointment experience, I know that success or failure in gaining a board seat comes down to getting 3 core things right.

1. Aspiration – being resolute and realistic about your board aspirations to the extent that you can list organizations you want and can serve on their board or committees.
2. Articulation – having a board pitch that separates you from others. You must be able to articulate the reason you should be appointed to those boards and committees you aspire to.
3. Application – understanding how you will most likely be appointed as an independent board member. Then, develop a step-by-step action plan to get there. Be prepared to pivot or change your plan if needed.

So, if you are serious about board success by gaining a board seat in 2024, my Board Appointment Coaching Program will step you through how to build and implement a comprehensive board appointment plan. A plan and process that has helped thousands of people find board opportunities that they otherwise would not have and get appointed to them more frequently and more quickly than they ever thought possible.