The best way to get a Non Executive Directorship is to have a strong track record of previous NEDS. But how do you get the first one? And what if you’re not yet sure life as a NED is for you, but would like to learn more? If you’ve ever asked those questions, this piece is for you…
A year ago I received a message on LinkedIn from Heather White. I didn’t know Heather at the time, but it was clear from her profile that she was phenomenally well connected and knew a lot about the world of Non Executive Directorships (NEDs). It was a world I was keen to learn more about so we fixed to meet.
Heather explained the concept behind her Boardroom Ready programme. Simply put, it connects individuals wanting to explore the world of NEDs (but who have not to date been active in that world) with companies who would welcome external input to their board meetings (but who are not ready to take on the legal formalities and remuneration requirements of appointing an official NED).
This sounded like a great development opportunity, so I took away four briefing documents to get an idea of the types of businesses Heather was working with. One in particular stood out. M2A Media, a client-facing business with some similarities to the creative agency world I knew well, but with a very different and highly technical product: live streaming events using public cloud technology. I took a look at the M2A website and read the latest blog post: Hybrid SSAI/DAI & Localisation in OTT Live Event Streaming. There was no doubt I would learn a lot from getting to know M2A’s business, even if only what SSAI meant…
A week later I had an interview with the Chairman and so began my year on the M2A board. It’s been a fascinating experience and I’ve learnt a huge amount from the founders, the Chairman, the other board members and from my coaching sessions with Heather. I’ve made connections I’d never have met from within my own industry, through the networking opportunities the programme opened up, and when I set up my consulting business one of the first roles I took on was to join the board of another company, this time in a paid capacity.
There’s nothing more rewarding than applying your experience to help an organisation operating in a different sector to the one you know best. M2A seem happy too – they’re looking to continue the programme and take on a new member of the board for the coming year.
Alongside the live boardroom experience, the programme offers a host of other ways to learn about life as a NED, including partnerships and workshops with the NED Association.
There are so many people within my network that I know would thrive on this programme that I thought I’d share my experience of the last 12 months. If you’d like to know more, feel free to ask any questions (my contact details are at the bottom of this page) and if this might be for you I will happily give you an introduction to Heather.