A common topic of discussion among senior marketing leaders is figuring out how to get invited to join a for-profit board. While this is daunting, as soon as the invitation comes, the more important question is understanding what the new role entails to be able to serve effectively. The reality is that it is rare for a new board member to be equipped to have a significant impact immediately, as there is a learning and adaptation curve.
To understand how senior marketers joining a board can accelerate the learning curve, I turned to Vivian Riefberg, a former senior partner at McKinsey & Company. Riefberg has a diverse set of board experiences, having served on non-profit, private (venture capital and private equity-backed), and public company boards. As the Walentas Jefferson Scholars Foundation Professorship Chair at the Darden School of Business (UVA), I have the pleasure of working with Riefberg and always find her extremely insightful. Below is a summary of her advice for first picking the right board and then accelerating the preparation process.
Picking the “Right” Board to Join
1) Understand why you want to join a particular board and what you are looking to get from the experience. The clearer you are about why you are interested in joining, the better you can ensure a good fit throughout the vetting process. Conversely, it is also critical that you understand what the enterprise hopes to gain from having you join the board. The key is not just joining a board, but joining a board that will enable you and the firm to succeed, and for there to be clarity on the reason you are there.
2) Make sure you believe in the CEO and what the company is trying to do. It’s important in your first board position that you believe in the leadership of the CEO and that there is a path forward for the firm to succeed. It’s not ideal to land on a board and then have to replace the CEO and/or find out that there isn’t enough clarity on the path forward. While a more seasoned board member can navigate these challenges, it’s ideal that your first board experience is one where you have confidence in the CEO and the path forward. This enables you to simply focus on learning how to be an effective board member and to contribute to the successful path.
3) Meet every member of the board before agreeing to be on it. A board is a group of colleagues working together. Really good boards function through a lens of mutual respect and trust—not agreement—but there has to be a basic level of engagement that is positive. Occasionally there are people who are not gracious or not as willing to hear other perspectives. If there are challenging personalities, you would want to know that beforehand and determine the best fit for you.
Accelerating the Learning Curve
1) Try to understand what you bring to the board and also what you need to learn. Some of us are confident and don’t always take the time to learn. In the beginning, be as patient as possible so that you know how to have an impact in that particular environment. It might not be the same as another board or at work. Because there is variance in the way you can contribute and have an impact, it’s helpful to both understand what value the CEO/board expects from you and be patient in finding an effective way to do so.
2) One of the most underutilized techniques is asking good questions—appreciative inquiry. It is a missing element in leadership in general and can be quite effective on the board as a new member. Importantly, however, is the nature of the questioning. Some people can tend to use attack questions or fail to ask questions (making statements instead)—there is something in the middle that eventually earns you greater credibility.
3) Be a learner. Even in your core strengths, you want to continue to learn. New things happen all of the time, and past experience may not be perfectly applicable. Look for opportunities to continually learn. However, while you want to learn in the areas in which you have strengths, don’t necessarily run to your strengths. Be open to strengthening skills in some area that is not fully developed.
4) If you are a marketer joining a board, learn about the economics of the company. If it is a startup, identify its financial path to profitability. If it’s a growth company, how does growth impact the enterprise, and how do the financials work? You want to connect marketing to the financial well-being of the organization. Is the business model clear? Is the path to profitability clear? What is the pace of scale? This applies to people from all functions. If you come with operating or manufacturing experience, connect the economics of manufacturing to the P&L.
5) Spend time with the CFO. Go and spend time early (ideally in the first month) with the CFO of the company and make them walk you through the economics. Understand how the firm makes money. Which customers are most profitable? In some cases, the company executives may not fully understand their own economics. Spending time with the CFO and other executives prior to attending a board meeting will help you learn the financials and a lot more about the firm—and begin developing important relationships.
6) See if there is an informal mentoring mechanism. Some boards set up mentoring mechanisms. If so, pick a board member who has different skills than you have. While it is tempting to hang out with people like you, it’s better to learn from people who aren’t.
7) Be careful about lines of communication. In startups, there is often more comfort with having board members spend time with people not in senior management, but CEOs want to be thoughtful about how they spend board members’ time and how lines of communication work.
8) Develop an external learning/mentorship relationship if possible. It’s good to have somebody who you can ask for wisdom on a specific circumstance or to run a specific idea or approach by. You will want to limit this to a senior mentor and will need to be careful to ensure appropriate confidentiality.
Riefberg concluded with a final piece of advice about joining a board. She indicated that it is often very tempting to say “yes” to a board even if it is not a great fit—but be careful. Joining a board is a multi-year commitment and can be quite disruptive to the firm if you abandon the board before your term is up. Make sure that it’s the “right” board before making such a long-term commitment.