Your Board Appointment Plan: 10 step guide

Regardless of circumstances and experience, a successful board career begins with a structured and realistic Board Appointment plan. If you don’t have one, now (at the beginning of the year) is the time to create it. If you have one, the new year is the perfect time to reflect, revise, and adjust. Even if you have successfully gained a board seat, plans change, and so do your circumstances. I always recommend that aspiring directors review their board and executive career plans at least once a year, ideally at the same time.

Here is a 10-step guide to ensure you are well-prepared to create and take advantage of opportunities that can facilitate gaining a board seat this year.

STEP 1 – Adopt a proactive approach

Yes, many board appointments happen, directly or indirectly, as the result of a personal or professional connection. However, board seats are rarely offered to people not actively looking for one. If you want a board seat this year, you must be proactive; now is the time to begin.

Gaining a board seat will take more than the common reactive approach of simply applying for board vacancies IF and when they are advertised. I have highlighted IF here for good reasons. Firstly, most board, committee, and advisory board opportunities are not openly advertised. Secondly, when board opportunities are advertised, they can be incredibly difficult to find. This is even more so if the process is handled by a recruiter with an endless list of qualified talent on their books.

If you are successful in finding an advertised board role, there will be numerous well-qualified, proactive candidates who have their board resumes up to date and ready to go, who will clearly know what they have to offer the board, and may have already established a connection with the recruiter and/or current and past board members.

A proactive approach should not only keep you one step ahead of the competition. With the right plan, you can find unadvertised opportunities and take the direct approach to gain a board seat.

STEP 2 – Consider your long-term board goals

Achieving long-term board goals is challenging but nearly impossible if you are unsure what they are. They do not need to be set in stone. In fact, your aspirations are unlikely to be realistic if you do not modify them along the way. However, without them, you lack direction and the potential to make ill-informed decisions that prevent you from reaching your full leadership potential. So, ask yourself, ‘What sort of board(s) do I want to serve on within the next 5-10 years?’ If, for example, your answer is a significant commercial company, then think about which organizations and roles today may help you get there. Now, focus on how to achieve these or similar, short-term board goals.

STEP 3 – Stop doing what isn’t working

“The harder you work, the luckier you get” sounds fair and good advice. But I can assure you that from a board appointment perspective, the harder you work does not correlate to success. It is not a numbers game. I see people continually submitting board applications and then sitting back, waiting for a call. At best, they get an email informing them that their application was unsuccessful. Then, there are those who make it to the board interview stage but still do not get appointed.

I strongly believe there is a board role out there for everyone. If your hard work is not paying off, it is time to reflect on what you can do differently. Don’t keep doing the same thing repeatedly and again “ad nauseam”. You need to work smarter, not harder.

STEP 4 – Learn to jump hurdles

Think about what is preventing you from gaining a board appointment or preventing you from starting. Recognizing current and potential hurdles and planning for them is important. Three main things will cause hurdles and prevent you from gaining a board seat:

You are targeting the wrong organization or industries
Your board pitch to those organizations is not convincing
You are not resilient and consistent in your approach

When faced with a hurdle, reviewing these three key areas should help you find a way around or over them.

STEP 5 – Write or revamp your board resume

Having reviewed over 10,000 board resumes and written over 5,000 of them, I know that having a carefully crafted Board Resume works. Whilst it is not the only factor that will get you appointed, it greatly influences the decisions made by recruiters, board chairs and selection panels. After being appointed to the board of a commercial company, a client asked the chair, “What attracted you to me initially?” They responded, “It was the style, format and clearly articulated content of your board resume.”

Your executive resume will not have this level of impact. In fact, submitting an executive resume for a board role may be interpreted as a lack of commitment to their board opportunity and a board career, that you are poorly organized or falsely assume that your reputation alone is enough to be appointed.

STEP 6 – Write your board profile

To write your board profile or pitch, you must know your value at board level. Not only do you have to know it, but you also have to be able to articulate it formally and informally confidently.

Start by finishing this sentence: “At board level, what I do is….” Don’t get into details; focus on strategic results. This is an exercise in refining your message and building your board brand with a powerful board value position (BVP). But to get results, your message must be clear and compelling. Neglecting or cutting corners on this step may lead to perceptions of being overly broad, opportunistic, and easily overlooked.

STEP 7 – Write a target list

In many countries, it is estimated that 50% of organizations will appoint a new board, advisory board or committee member each year. When establishing your Board Appointment plan, you must focus on the organizations that would value you and your skills and experience enough to appoint you. Draft a list of at least 12 organizations you believe would appoint you and want to serve on the board. Add similar organizations, competitor organizations, or stakeholder organizations to your list.

This list will give you some framework when proactively reaching out to organizations. The process of compiling the list will help you clarify what types of roles you are looking for and have constructive conversations with those who can help.

STEP 8 – Be active on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is key whether you focus on a formal or information path to a board appointment. Building and nurturing connections are essential. You can never fully anticipate the potential impact that just one of your connections might bring to your board career success.

Use your list of target organizations (from Step 7) to research and compose a list of the current and past directors. Connecting with them should be straightforward if you are authentic and legitimate. Also, ensure you follow your target organizations on LinkedIn. This will ensure news, announcements and board opportunities appear in your feed.

Finally, organizations and recruiters use LinkedIn as their primary tool to source potential board candidates. You must ensure that your LinkedIn profile is board-ready and reflects what you offer at the board level.

STEP 9 – Make time

A board seat within 12 months should be your firm and an achievable goal. To make it happen, you must be committed and consistent. This means setting dedicated time to make it happen. From today, put in your diary a recurring weekly appointment of at least 30 minutes to spend on your board appointment plan. Include tasks that need to be completed. Make working on your board career a habit.

STEP 10 – Seek support

Over the past decade, I have helped thousands worldwide develop their personal Board Appointment Plans and gain board seats. My Board Appointment Programs, provide the documents (including a Board Resume) and the coaching you need to gain a board seat within the next 12 months.

How to get a board seat? The 4 ways they happen

Take the direct approach to an independent board seat

Articulate your way to a Board Seat with a powerful Board Value Position

Do I need a board resume? Should I write one?

How to use LinkedIn to get on a Board

About the Author

David Schwarz is CEO & Founder of Board Appointments. He has over a decade of experience in putting people on boards as an international headhunter and recruiter. He has interviewed hundreds of directors and placed hundreds into some of the most significant public, private and NFP director roles in the world.