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Moving from executive leadership to the board requires a different way of thinking. Four directors explain how mentoring has helped them to sharpen their judgement, build their portfolios and find their voice around the board table.
The first meeting between Rachel Johnson-Kelly GAICD and her mentor, Arlene Tansey OAM FAICD, was meant to last half an hour. It ran for 90 minutes – and not in the way Johnson-Kelly had anticipated.
A non-executive director looking to build her portfolio after a demanding executive career, she arrived with a list of questions and specific areas she wanted to explore. But the conversation soon turned to their personal lives, with both sharing experiences that helped them to understand how the other thought and approached challenges.
For Johnson-Kelly, the unexpected conversation offered an early lesson in what makes boards effective. Directors must understand not only each other’s capabilities, but how they make decisions and work togeth
“Firstly, get to know the person, then their capabilities, how they make decisions, how they approach issues, how they share their wisdom,” she says.
It was a lesson that extended beyond her relationship with Tansey. Through the AICD Chair’s Mentoring Program, Johnson-Kelly began to reconsider how she could contribute most effectively as a director and what it meant to move from an executive role, where making your position heard is often essential, to a board, where decisions are made collectively.
As an executive, she was accustomed to advocating for the part of the business for which she was responsible. Around the board table, she learned she did not need to comment on every issue, talk over others or repeat a point already made.
Instead, she says, “It’s more about what you’re saying on the topics you are strongest at, rather than just constantly talking throughout.”
It is a distinction that can be difficult to make when stepping into directorship. Experience and technical expertise remain important, but they must be applied differently. For Johnson-Kelly, the program also helped her to articulate what she stood for as a director, bringing financial clarity to enable sound board decisions.
For Nicole Noye GAICD, the challenge was translating more than 25 years as a chief executive into a new career as a non-executive director.
When she applied, Noye had secured her first board position and was beginning to build a portfolio. Her mentor, Robyn Watts FAICD, quickly became a trusted sounding board, with their monthly meetings often stretching well beyond the planned hour.
As Noye joined additional boards, the relationship took on a more practical dimension. She could turn to Watts to discuss situations she was encountering in the boardroom, rather than waiting for their next scheduled meeting.
The experience helped her to recognise that her executive background remained valuable, even though the responsibilities of a non-executive director were different.
“What the AICD Chair’s Mentoring Program gave me was the ability to have the confidence in the boardroom, and that came through my relationships with my mentor, my mentee buddy and also the wider program,” she says.
That confidence was not simply about feeling ready for the role. It came from understanding how to apply the skills she already possessed, while learning to navigate the demands of a different kind of leadership.
For Sarah Hofman GAICD, the transition required a different kind of discipline: knowing when to wait.
Hofman moved directly from a full-time executive role into a non-executive position with Orora, an ASX-listed manufacturer of aluminium cans and glass bottles. She joined the mentoring program to learn from an experienced chair and become a more effective director.
Her mentor, Duncan West FAICD, brought experience in financial services across executive and non-executive roles. Their monthly conversations gave Hofman an opportunity to discuss situations she had encountered as a new director and test her thinking against his experience.
One of the lessons was to be more selective about her next appointment. Having secured what she considered an excellent first board role, she became more patient about finding another position that offered comparable quality, rather than pursuing opportunities simply to grow her portfolio.
“It’s just taught me just to be a little bit more patient and wait for a role that will be equal to my first,” she says.
This points to a bigger hurdle for anyone trying to build a board career. It’s not just about racking up titles, you have to figure out exactly where your skills and passions add the most value.
That clarity is something Gorana Saula GAICD, a chair and non-executive director across manufacturing, engineering and technology, also gained from the program.
Matched with Guy Cowan FAICD, Saula was struck by his calm approach and clarity of thought. Their discussions covered board culture, the chair’s role in guiding difficult conversations and the way directors can contribute to strategic thinking around innovation and growth.
Cowan also helped her to define the specific skills and value she brought to a board.
Despite her existing board experience, Saula came away with a renewed appreciation of the need to keep questioning herself and reflecting on past decisions.
“I realised that despite my experience, I still have enormous capacity to grow by asking better questions, not just providing answers,” she says.
“The program reminded me of the power of curiosity and reflection, two qualities that are just as important for seasoned directors as they are for first-time board members.”
The mentoring relationships are only part of that process. All four participants point to the value of the wider cohort, where women with different professional backgrounds have built relationships through regular catch-ups and buddy groups.
For Johnson-Kelly, those connections have already had a tangible career benefit: her first paid directorship came through a referral from another participant.
The AICD Chair’s Mentoring Program began in 2010 and now has 420 alumni. Hofman notes that women’s representation on ASX 200 boards has grown from 8.3% when the program began to 37.6% as at 30 June, 2026. She sees the program as a contributor to that progress.
For participants, the immediate value is more personal – access to experienced directors who can challenge their thinking, a clearer understanding of their own contribution and a network of peers who understand the demands of board service.
Ultimately, the transition to directorship is not simply about taking the skills that made someone successful as an executive and applying them in a new setting. It is about learning when to speak, when to listen, which opportunities to pursue and how to make collective decisions work.
Those lessons may take years to accumulate alone. Mentoring offers a way to learn from the experience of others, while developing the judgement to find your own way around the board table.
Applications for the 2027-28 AICD Chair’s Mentoring Program are now open and close on 24 November. To find out more about eligibility criteria and how to apply, click here.
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