The demand for Non-Executive Directors never drops. If anything the competition for these positions increases in times of uncertainty.
Why does the demand for board roles never drop? Well, for many a Board Appointment can add much needed additional income, provide focus and purpose post-retirement, play an important role in professional development and the connections and experience gained in these roles can be leveraged powerfully into new career opportunities.
How Board Roles can Future Proof your career
- Supplement your income – the average income for the top listed NEDs is £83,000pa with small-cap NEDs earning £43,000pa and private company NEDs earning £18,000pa. Additionally, consulting fees can also often be generated through the relationships formed at board level.
- Develop your profile – join the 5% of people who hold a board appointment.
- Demonstrate strategic success – Board Appointments evidence strategic experience which is fundamentally important for you to be able to evidence in order to drive your executive career.
- Broaden your skills – regardless of your executive skills a board appointment will develop your governance experience and offer an opportunity to utilise your existing skills more fully by operating at a macro level. This can of course also be leveraged in your executive career.
- Build networks that are leverageable – even small organisations have significant NEDs on their boards. That means that sometimes fairly insignificant board appointments can open up networks with individuals that you would not normally have. These relationships are highly leverageable.
- Provide an opportunity to give back: Boards offer an opportunity to give back to an industry that has supported you or a business or cause that you are passionate about.
- Facilitate more successful retirements – board roles offer an opportunity to maintain your relevance, contribute and develop new professional relationships.
Successful NEDs know these 3 things
It doesn’t matter if you have held a board appointment before or not. It doesn’t matter whether you are a CEO, retired or are just starting your career. It doesn’t matter what your current job is. It doesn’t matter how ‘connected’ you are… it doesn’t matter.
Successful Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) know what matters. They are clear about three things:
- The organisations they are targeting
- Why they should be appointed to the boards of those organisations, and
- How they will be appointed.
Start your board career today
For all of these reasons, and many more and regardless of where you are in your career – starting out, considering retirement, wanting to future-proof your career, considering a career change, an experienced executive or wanting some additional income – a board appointment must be part of your career plan and professional development. Now more than ever.
Finding and gaining Non-Executive Director or Advisory Board opportunities is difficult – getting appointed to them even more so. However, regardless of whether you are an experienced Director or just starting your board career, there are some simple things you can do that will: make you more appointable; separate yourself from your competitors and; help you gain the appointment that you want. However, despite the competition, in the last month, three of our members gained board appointments.
Find out how we can help take a look at Board Appointments.
About the Author
David Schwarz is CEO & Founder of Board Appointments – The UK’s leading board advertising and non-executive career support firm. He has over a decade of experience of putting people on boards as an international headhunter and a non-executive recruiter and has interviewed over one thousand non-executives and placed hundreds into some of the most significant public, private and NFP roles in the world