How to Land a Board Seat & Accelerate your Professional Trajectory.

Let’s start with a clean definition of what a “Board” is.

“A Board of Directors is an executive committee that jointly supervise the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organization, or a government agency.”

You may start picturing old men wearing suits, sitting around a mahogany table reviewing profit and loss statements. Picture on the RIGHT:

And while some boards no doubt meet this stereotype, serving on a board is much more than that and appears in many dynamics, shapes, styles and functions.

For example, your local animal shelter likely has a board of 3-8 passionate animal lovers who get together occasionally to decide what the current state of the shelter may be. Picture BELOW.

Boards exist for many reasons, but a core reason is to allow a group of individuals to come together to make complex decisions regarding the enterprise’s mission.

If assembled in a thoughtful manner, Boards will challenge themselves to find diverse members. People who are likeminded and share common interest to some degree, but have different skills, personalities, networks, resources, and experiences. This increases the odds of finding the objective truth, thus leading to more accurate and rewarding decision making.

I am fortunate to sit on two boards as of this blog in August of 2021. The Young Executives, which is a premier business networking group for DC professionals. I also sit on my alma mater's DC Alumni Board.

There are many beneficial reasons why you should find a board to serve on. This blog acts as a collection of my personal experiences and thoughts on how you can find a board to serve on, what to do once you are serving, ways to leverage it, and the unspoken rules and expectations.

How to Find a Board.

The first step is internal. Ask yourself what are you passionate about? What skills do you possess? What are your areas of expertise? For example, one might make a list that looks like this.

• Technology
• IT Security
• Problem Solving
• Communication

Great. Now we can look for a Board that fits.

Where to Look?

1. Google it. Yes, it is that simple. Google “Arlington, VA Technology Board” or “Charlotte, NC IT Security nonprofit board”.

It’s likely many things will pop up and you’ll find a contact person to ask about joining or their process for nomination.

2. Use LinkedIn. Filter search results for nonprofit, board, board of directors, etc.

This will lead you to the actual members of a given board. Message them. Say hello.

What do you say to them?

Example: “Hi there, my name is ____________ and I work as a ___________. One of my professional goals is to serve on a board that _______________ and I came across your organization. Who is the right person for me to speak with about your nomination process? I am passionate around ___________ and really think I would be a valuable member."

How to get started when you are the new person.

Ok great, let’s skip to the part where you found yourself on a board. Now what? As a new member, my posture is always one of listening and learning. I want to soak up info, I want to quietly observe personalities and engagement levels of the members. I ask thought provoking questions, but careful not to ask demeaning ones that imply a weakness or inefficiency. (No one likes the "new guy" that things they know how to run things on day 1".

Poorly worded: “Wait...why are we not directly coordinating with ____? We are wasting our time doing this ourselves”

Better version: “I’ve been doing some critical thinking and had an idea. Are there ways we can unlock efficiency by collaborating with _________? Might help us save time and advance our mission for this quarter.

Other Helpful things to do when you FIRST start serving.

• Volunteer to lead committees and help with projects.
• Over-communicate until you are comfortable with the unspoken nature of this specific group. People who have worked together for a while communicate feelings, ideas and moods nonverbally.
• Be flexible with your own personal ideas and feelings and understand this is bigger than any one individual.

How to Leverage your Status on the Board.

It is probably smart to outwardly share that you serve on this board. This raises the profile of the board and helps you appear as the world class professional you are.

Mention it on LinkedIn, mention it on Facebook. Share fun and engaging stories when you are networking.

Don’t rub it in that you are on a board, but leverage this professional achievement to help the group, but also push you higher into leadership roles.

Unspoken Rules and Expectations.

This is a tough one. The unspoken rules and expectations for each board will be different. Generally, it is NOT a good idea to outwardly try and push business through a board.

Example: You are a financial advisor and you serve on a local animal shelter board. During the meeting, DO NOT ask a fellow board member to have a sit down about their IRA or 401k strategy. This is mixing your words too bluntly.

This will almost always come across slimy.

Let conversations and relationships naturally develop over time. Can you do business eventually with fellow members? Of course, you can! But let the mission of the board drive most of your conversations and motives. 

Final Thoughts.

Hopefully this guide helps you get out there and find ways to lead. I am a firm believer in BEING the change you want to see. Serving on a Board is a great way to work on your passions while helping others.

AUTHOR: J. Cooper Simmerman, MBA. Director of Communications for Centurion Wealth. This blog is intended to be used as an educational resource and not advice or investment analysis.