Thayer's Top Three Tips for Aspiring Non-Executives
Networking “This is undoubtedly number one. At a recent workshop for aspiring non executives I thought one of our speakers, Chris Curling, made a really good point when he was saying that he has lunches planned every day for months in advance but he makes sure that they have a purpose. He eats a lot of lunches but he makes them work. When someone wants to meet up with me, I think hard about why I’m meeting them. I do my research, I find out what they are doing and I work out whether there are any ways we could work together. Otherwise you could just end up eating a lot of lunches and getting nowhere.”
Having the financial bandwidth “This is so important and why I always stress to people about planning their finances well in advance. When you have been used to getting a salary cheque every month it can be quite a shock when it’s not coming in any more, and you have to give thought to what you need to do to adjust your lifestyle to accommodate the change in circumstances.”
Planning your time “Make sure you have enough time to give to all your appointments. Board meetings all tend to be in the third week of the month. I’m not on that many boards but I’m already finding clashes occurring. Planning your diary well in advance is crucial.”
“And finally, remember that you don’t have to be someone famous or a known name to find a useful role. In one recent appointment, as non-executive director of the Appointments Commission, they’d never heard of me before I applied, but my professional background made me an extremely good fit. As long as you have strong credentials, and you look for roles which your experience and background are relevant for, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t get an interesting and enjoyable role as a non-executive director.”
Networking “This is undoubtedly number one. At a recent workshop for aspiring non executives I thought one of our speakers, Chris Curling, made a really good point when he was saying that he has lunches planned every day for months in advance but he makes sure that they have a purpose. He eats a lot of lunches but he makes them work. When someone wants to meet up with me, I think hard about why I’m meeting them. I do my research, I find out what they are doing and I work out whether there are any ways we could work together. Otherwise you could just end up eating a lot of lunches and getting nowhere.”
Having the financial bandwidth “This is so important and why I always stress to people about planning their finances well in advance. When you have been used to getting a salary cheque every month it can be quite a shock when it’s not coming in any more, and you have to give thought to what you need to do to adjust your lifestyle to accommodate the change in circumstances.”
Planning your time “Make sure you have enough time to give to all your appointments. Board meetings all tend to be in the third week of the month. I’m not on that many boards but I’m already finding clashes occurring. Planning your diary well in advance is crucial.”
“And finally, remember that you don’t have to be someone famous or a known name to find a useful role. In one recent appointment, as non-executive director of the Appointments Commission, they’d never heard of me before I applied, but my professional background made me an extremely good fit. As long as you have strong credentials, and you look for roles which your experience and background are relevant for, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t get an interesting and enjoyable role as a non-executive director.”