34. Boardroom Bound with host Alexander Lowry

Alexander Lowry is a professor at Gordon College in Wenham Massachusetts where he is the Executive Director of the Master's in Financial Analysis program and the creator, voice and driving force behind "Boardroom Bound"  - a weekly podcast about boards of directors, how to become a board member, how to excel at the job and the important impact that boards have on business and our society.    Thanks for listening! We love our listeners! Drop us a line or give us guest suggestions here.   Links   Alexander Lowry Bio   Gordon College Masters of Science in Financial Analysis     Recommended Books   Authored by Boardroom Bound Guests Governance in the Digital Age/Dottie Schillinger   Dare to Serve/ Cheryl Batchelder   Be Board Ready and Behind Boardroom Doors/ Betsy Atkins Boards That Lead/ Ram Charan, Dennis Carey, and Michael Useem     Authored by On Boards Guests Family Business Handbook - How to Build and Sustain a Successful Enduring Enterprise/Rob Lachenauer and Josh Baron   The Board Members Guide to Risk/David Koenig   High Performance Boards/Didier Cossin   Startup CEO: A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your Business/Matt Blumberg   Our Common Ground: Insights From Four Years of Listening to American Voters/Diane Hessan   Quotes   Boards are one of the most important things in the business world and people weren't talking about - that's what led me to start Boardroom Bound.   If someone says, "Help me get a board seat," that's like saying, "Help me get a job." I don't know what to do with that. What industry you want to work in? What size of company? Is it compensated, non-compensated, public versus private? There are all these sorts of things you have to help me figure out to know what you should do, and it only then that  I can even begin to start giving you guidance. It's as if I went to you guys and said, "Guys, help me get a job," you'd say, "What does it mean?"   Even after you have given some thought to getting a board seat, I would test you a little bit. All right, so tell me what's most important. Is it the compensation?" And some people would say, yes. I appreciate their honesty, but that's not a good driver for it. "But okay, if it is the compensation, what do you think you're going to make in what are you trying to do?" "Well, I want to be on the board of JP Morgan and make $250,000 a year." I'm like, "Hmm. What kind of size company did you work in?" "I worked at a bunch of startups." "Well, that's probably not realistic. Let's take what you came up with and let's talk about reality. You're probably not going to be on a board with a company cap size bigger than where you've worked before.   If, for example, you have only worked in private companies, then you should focus on that. There are lots of different opportunities there. I would take exactly what you said, Joe, let's dive into it a little bit more, make sure we're all coming from the same page, and then you can come up with a game plan to do it.   Once you've got that, okay, networking is going to be a big part of it. For some people that's a dirty word. It doesn't need to be a dirty word. How big is your network today? Do you know people who are on boards? Do you know people that service boards like accountants and consultants and lawyers that can be helpful for you? And then how much time will you spend every week? Are you going to spend an hour a day? Are you going to spend an hour a week? Now, a lot of that's going to predict how long it's going to take for you and how successful you will ultimately be.     Big Ideas/Thoughts   Being a Board Member is a job Joe  Some people don't understand that a board seat is a job. Some people think it's kind of a nice thing to do when you retire or in your "spare time" but in fact, it's a job and you need to take it as seriously as you would any other job.     Accepting a board seat I think most first-time board members will usually jump at the chance to be on any board, and that is not a great idea.  Someone has worked really hard to land a paid board seat. That was their dream, that was their goal, and they made it happen. You're super excited, this is amazing, right?  Well, it doesn't mean you should take it. Think about this as like you're applying for a job. Just because you get a job offer doesn't mean it's going to be a fit. Is this a place where you're setting yourself up for success? Can you do this? Do you want to do this? Boards are very different from each other.   Some boards rubber stamp what the CEO comes up with. Is that the kind of board you want to be on? If so, great. Know that other boards are very collaborative, very open, very discussion oriented, very much about coming up with a strategy that helps the organization. Is that the type of board you're going to fit in with? Is that the kind of the space you want to be in?   Due Diligence before accepting a board seat An example of doing due diligence: A guest was offered her first board seat, and she had worked really hard to get it. She was excited about it, it was a public company, it checked all the boxes, but she didn't feel comfortable. She went through the interview process but had that little person on her shoulder telling me "there's a danger here, Will Robinson" - think about this."    Here's what happened: She offered:  "Let me sign some NDA so I can sit in one meeting. I won't vote. I'm just sitting in the back. I want to observe. I need to observe." And they thought she was the right person, so they agreed to this. I don't know why. She actually saw a fistfight break out during the meeting. She's like, "I knew this was not the place for me."   That's an extreme version of due diligence.  The point is you want to be on the right board for you because you will do well. And if you do well, that will lead to other boards because the people you're sitting and working with will inevitably also be connected to other boards and they'll know, "Oh my gosh, Johnny over here was phenomenal. I should think of another opportunity." But if you stink it up in the boardroom, you're not going to get another one.   Bo proactive about onboarding Alexander Isn't it terribly ironic that companies spend all of this time and energy and money trying to bring someone on, but don't didn't treat a bioard members the way they treat any normal employee who they hire.   Joe Yes, ironic that people, boards, organizations spend so much time recruiting and then they drop the ball with onboarding and fail to get full value out of this person.   Alexander If you think about this whole onboarding process, show up at your desk, all the stuff is laying there and you come to a certain training and meet all the people. Often, in the boardroom, it's, "Well, you know what you're doing. We'll just throw you in, come to the next meeting and you'll be great." That's not setting anybody up for success.   If your company is not taking it upon themselves to do a proper onboarding process, make sure that you are doing it to set yourself up for success.