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- A great executive CV isn’t enough. Chairs need to know you can drop the "expert" mindset and collaborate effectively.
- You’ll stand out in interviews if you’ve done your homework on the company’s strategy and ask sharp, genuine questions.
- Without proven board experience, expect chairs to lean heavily on your references to gauge emotional intelligence and real-time commitment.
The leap from the C-suite to the boardroom is demanding. Chairs aren’t just looking for executive expertise; they need a collegial, non-executive mindset. Here is what they’re evaluating when you walk into an interview.
Appointing a first-time director is a high-stakes decision for chairs. While a candidate’s CV and experience may appear impressive, they are unlikely to have an established track record demonstrating how they will contribute to collective decision-making at board level.
“We all know that boardroom-fit matters because the board is a dynamic organism – a team – and when you change a player, the dynamics change,” says Diane Smith-Gander AO FAICD, chair of Zip Co, Perenti and HBF, and chancellor of the University of Western Australia.
She says “fit” should not be confused with conformity. Instead, it means avoiding behaviours that don’t belong in any boardroom, such as being domineering, stubborn or always wanting the last word.
“These behaviours will be evident in their executive roles. They don’t suddenly appear because someone becomes a director,” she says.
Alison Gaines FAICD, a board adviser and independent non-executive director (NED) of Hockey Australia and West Australian Opera, explains that being boardroom-fit revolves around whether a candidate is likely to adapt to the more collegial style of NED thinking. This differs from their executive lives, where they may have been the expert in the room and rewarded for having answers and being decisive.
A good fit also implies they will bring contemporary ideas and networks to build the board’s capability, and that their reputation will strengthen the board’s ability to govern effectively.
“The question all chairs are interested in is the candidate’s ability to elevate collective decision making, or put more forcefully, whether the candidate will add value to the boardroom or destroy the boardroom,” says Gaines.
Rick Crabb FAICD, an experienced mining industry director, says boards are also looking for range – the ability to think broadly across many areas, while still drawing on individual strengths. This includes independent judgement, as well as the ability to listen closely to what others are saying.
The practical tests for first-time directors
Gaines believes availability is important when recruiting first-time directors. “Often, emerging directors are still engaged in busy executive or consulting roles where their time is not their own,” she says.
“Selection committees will want a firm commitment from final candidates that they can attend the forthcoming calendar of meetings.”
That said, Smith-Gander warns that availability on paper does not always translate into commitment to a particular board.
She believes in reference checking when a CV looks overly busy and questioning whether the director puts in discretionary effort, is active in professional development, and contributes to the director community more broadly.
Smith-Gander says her expectations of new directors do not differ according to the type of board she chairs, be it a listed, not-for-profit or government organisation.
“A director is a director, is a director,” she says. “The context of each board will mean directors arrive with a distinctive contribution to make and some knowledge gaps. The way they fill those knowledge gaps is different, but expectations don’t differ.”
Whatever the governance structure, says Gaines, chairs are likely to spend more time on onboarding and mentoring first-time directors. “All sophisticated organisations will have formal induction programs. Good chairs and CEOs will also orientate new directors to the unique stakeholder and operating environments. I think the perception is dying out that volunteer directors shouldn’t be worked hard like paid directors.”
How chairs assess boardroom fit
No boards can afford to carry underperforming directors. So how do chairs assess executives with strong CVs, but no boardroom track record?
Crabb considers his first impressions and how easy the person is to talk to. “It’s very much a personal relationship type of approach, but I’d certainly want others helping to make the decision, such as the nomination committee and my fellow directors.
“I’d have a chat with the head-hunter. I might also be inclined to have more than one interview with candidates. I’d ask for some war stories and descriptions on how they’ve handled various scenarios.
“Much depends on their referees or if I know somebody on the board of a company they’ve worked for. Plus, things like completing an AICD course or mentoring program could show they’re ready to transition to the boardroom.”
Gaines also turns to referees, particularly those who understand boardroom dynamics. The questions she asks revolve around emotional intelligence, judgement, the ability to work in a team, communication with peers, technical capability, energy, adaptability, integrity and experience in dealing with boards.
How to stand out in a board interview
Gaines says that once candidates are “qualified on paper”, those who stand out are already thinking like NEDs during the interview process.
“They will have thought through their value proposition, understand how their CV aligns with the vacant role, demonstrated curiosity by having a good understanding of the organisation and already considered their availability, potential conflicts of interest and ideal referees for due diligence,” she says.
Smith-Gander adds that good candidates differentiate themselves by how they approach their due diligence – for example, by developing a perspective on the organisation’s strategy from publicly available documents and describing their fit against its needs given the reported skills matrix.
The quality of a candidate’s questions is another important signal. “Are they insightful questions or cliches, and are they expressed as questions and not long-winded hypotheses dressed up as questions? The latter is a hint that they think they’re generally the smartest person in the room – a huge red flag,” she says.
To stand out in the busy NED recruitment market, Gaines advises aspiring directors to develop board-focused CVs and LinkedIn pages, and to engage in continuing education where they are likely to meet directors. She also recommends building a hit list of organisations they’re a good fit for. Use this as the basis of a networking and LinkedIn connection campaign.
“It’s also vital to have a sourcing strategy for board vacancies, using LinkedIn, SEEK, AICD and other NED vacancy platforms,” she says.
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