Leadership Lounge: Boardroom Bound: How to Navigate Your Journey from Executive to Board Director

Summary

Redefiners Podcast Episode Summary

Episode Title: Leadership Lounge: Boardroom Bound: How to Navigate Your Journey from Executive to Board Director
Release Date: March 26, 2025
Hosts: Emma Coombe, Leadership Advisor at Russell Reynolds Associates
Guests:

• Maggie Benkert: Leadership Advisor, Russell Reynolds Associates, New York
• Ed Mason: Leadership Advisor, Russell Reynolds Associates, London
• Rusty O. Kelly: Leadership Advisor, Russell Reynolds Associates, Miami

---

Introduction

In the latest episode of Leadership Lounge, host Emma Coombe delves into the intricate journey from being an executive to securing a board director position. Titled "Boardroom Bound: How to Navigate Your Journey from Executive to Board Director," the conversation brings together seasoned leadership advisors from Russell Reynolds Associates to provide invaluable insights for aspiring board members.

---

Evaluating Board Opportunities

Maggie Benkert on Assessing Fit and Impact
[01:27 - 02:36]
Maggie Benkert emphasizes the importance of self-assessment when considering board roles. She advises executives to ponder three critical questions:

1. Personal Goals: "What do I want to get out of this experience? How does serving on a board support my overall career goals?"
2. Value Proposition: "What can I bring to the table? Where do I have great experience and where can I really add value?"
3. Practical Considerations: Time commitment, meeting schedules, and other responsibilities.

Maggie also underscores the necessity of due diligence, urging candidates to thoroughly research potential organizations regarding their financial health, reputation, and governance practices.

Ed Mason on Selectivity and Alignment
[03:28 - 04:21]
Ed Mason echoes Maggie’s sentiments, advising executives to be highly selective about board roles. He highlights the need for board positions to be both value-adding and developmental, aiding in the executive's career progression. Ed stresses the importance of understanding the dynamics between the chairperson, CEO, and other board members to ensure a harmonious and effective working environment. "Does this work for you? Is it how you enjoy engaging with others and is that the kind of environment where you think you can bring value?" ([03:38])

Rusty O. Kelly on Board Chair Expectations
[04:47 - 05:46]
Rusty O. Kelly outlines the primary factors board chairs consider when selecting new directors:

1. Industry Relevance: Understanding the specific sector.
2. Company Strategy: Aligning with the company’s current phase, whether it's expansion, transformation, or stabilization.
3. Board Composition: Ensuring the new director complements the existing board’s skills and mitigates any gaps.

---

Skills and Behaviors for Effective Directors

Maggie Benkert on Essential Skills
[06:21 - 07:54]
Maggie highlights the distinction between management and board roles. She warns against executives focusing too deeply on operational details rather than governance. She introduces the concept of "T-shaped" individuals—those who possess broad knowledge across various areas and deep expertise in specific domains.

Maggie states, "We're looking for individuals who are T-shaped. They have breadth across the board agenda and depth in specific areas." ([06:59])

Key Behaviors for Exceptional Directors
Based on a Russell Reynolds study, Maggie identifies five critical behaviors that distinguish the most effective directors:

1. Sound Judgment and Relevant Expertise
2. Constructive Engagement and Constructive Challenge
3. Integrity and Courage to Act Ethically
4. Focused Inquiry and Asking the Right Questions
5. Independent Perspective to Avoid Groupthink

---

Building Relationships in the Boardroom

Emma Coombe on Balancing Challenge and Support
[07:54 - 10:31]
Emma discusses the delicate balance directors must maintain between challenging management and providing support. She shares her experience advising on board chair appointments that encourage diverse perspectives and robust discussions, avoiding a homogenous "sea of nodding heads."

Ed Mason on Trust-Building Practices
[10:31 - 11:25]
Ed suggests proactive strategies for building trust among board members, such as:

• Attending meetings early to engage informally.
• Participating in joint site visits or employee interactions.
• Establishing "board buddies" to collaborate on specific topics or initiatives.

Rusty O. Kelly on Proactive Relationship Building
[11:52 - 12:37]
Rusty advises new board members to seize every opportunity to interact with peers outside formal meetings. Simple actions like having coffee together or sharing transportation can lay the foundation for stronger working relationships.

---

Enhancing Board Effectiveness Over Time

Ed Mason on Continuous Learning and Engagement
[13:23 - 14:04]
Ed emphasizes the importance of directors staying informed about their business and industry trends. He encourages leveraging experiences from other board positions or executive roles to bring fresh insights and networks to the table. "Staying informed and drawing from diverse experiences can significantly enhance a director's contribution." ([13:23])

Emma Coombe on Leveraging Networks
Emma concurs, highlighting how directors can utilize their networks to benefit the organizations they serve, from introducing valuable contacts to incorporating diverse methodologies and perspectives.

---

Conclusions and Key Takeaways

In wrapping up the discussion, Emma distills the conversation into clear actionable insights:

1. Selective Board Opportunities:

   • Ensure alignment with personal skills, values, and career aspirations.

2. Demonstrate Core Behaviors:

   • Exhibit sound judgment, integrity, constructive challenge, focused inquiry, and independent perspectives.

3. Foster Strong Board Relationships:

   • Engage in trust-building activities and cultivate meaningful connections with fellow board members.

4. Commit to Continuous Improvement:

   • Stay informed, seek new learnings, and leverage your network to maximize your board impact.

Emma encourages listeners to reach out with questions and to support the podcast by leaving reviews on Apple or Spotify.

---

Notable Quotes:

• "What do I want to get out of this experience? How does serving on a board support my overall career goals?"
  — Maggie Benkert ([01:44])

• "Does this work for you? Is it how you enjoy engaging with others and is that the kind of environment where you think you can bring value?"
  — Ed Mason ([03:38])

• "We're looking for individuals who are T-shaped. They have breadth across the board agenda and depth in specific areas."
  — Maggie Benkert ([06:59])

• "Staying informed and drawing from diverse experiences can significantly enhance a director's contribution."
  — Ed Mason ([13:23])

---

This episode of Leadership Lounge serves as an essential guide for executives aspiring to transition into board director roles. By focusing on alignment, essential skills, effective behaviors, and relationship-building, leaders can navigate the complex boardroom landscape with confidence and strategic insight.

Transcript

[Rusty O. Kelly]

Foreign.

[Emma Coombe]

Welcome to the Leadership Lounge, a place to kick back and listen as our experts dissect some of the biggest questions leaders face today. I'm Emma Coombe, Leadership Advisor in our London office. Today's board directors operate in a complex business landscape, balancing strategic guidance, technological innovation, and heightened governance expectations. They must provide critical leadership while navigating rapid change and increasing stakeholder scrutiny. So, as an executive, do you have what it takes to thrive in a board role? In today's episode, we're exploring the journey to board director, from evaluating the right opportunities to maximizing your impact. Once you're there, we'll discuss how to build your board readiness, navigate the selection process, and leverage your unique perspective to create value in the boardroom. But before we dive in, remember to share any burning questions you want our experts to Answer by emailing redefinersusslereynolds.com it's great to hear from you. And if you enjoy listening to our episodes, leave us a five star review on Apple or Spotify. So let's dive in. First up, we'd like to welcome Maggie Benkert, Leadership advisor in Russell Reynolds Associates New York office, into the conversation. Maggie, welcome to the Leadership Lounge.

[Maggie Benkert]

Hi, Emma. Thanks for having me. It's great to be here.

[Emma Coombe]

So, Maggie, let's start with the fundamentals of board selection. There are numerous board opportunities available today, from public companies to startups. How do you advise executives to evaluate whether a board opportunity is the right fit, both for their career goals and for meaningful impact?

[Maggie Benkert]

So when I'm advising executives who are thinking about board service for the first time, I tell them to ask themselves three questions. First, what do I want to get out of this experience? How does serving on a board support my overall career goals? And second, what can I bring to the table? Where do I have great experience and where can I really add value? And of course, there's also the practical considerations. What can you really commit to in terms of time commitment, meetings and other responsibilities? Finally, due diligence is critical. You have to research the organization that you're thinking about joining in terms of their financial health, reputation and their governance practices. It can be really hard to get recruited to a board when you have no experience. But it's even harder when you have experience with a company that's done damage to your personal reputation or where you weren't able to make a graceful exit.

[Emma Coombe]

Absolutely spot on, Maggie. As a serving executive, you need to evaluate whether a position is something that will enhance or damage your personal reputation. And of course, you also have to be really mindful of the time that's required. It's so important that we have a good balance of serving executives on boards. But there also needs to be a good number of individuals who are in the portfolio mode or retired mode who can give more time. When I'm advising first time non executive directors, I make sure they're aware how much the workload can fluctuate, particularly during critical periods like acquisitions or leadership transitions. Understanding this helps both the business and the individual make sure that everything can be set up for success. We now like to bring our second guest into the conversation, Ed Mason, Leadership advisor at Russell Reynolds Associates London office. Ed, welcome to the Leadership Lounge.

[Ed Mason]

Emma. Thanks for having me.

[Emma Coombe]

Ed. Building on what Maggie said about finding the right board opportunity, what's your perspective on how executives should evaluate potential board roles?

[Ed Mason]

I advise clients and candidates to be really quite selective about taking a board role. You want to find an opportunity where you can add considerable value, but it's also developmental or stretching for you and helps support you in your career. You want to spend quality time, therefore, with the chairperson and the other board directors, particularly the CEO and cfo, if they sit on the board, to understand their motivations, their ethics, their perspectives on the vision and strategy for the business and the dynamics that they like to work in around the board table. Does this work for you? Is it how you enjoy engaging with others and is that the kind of environment where you think you can bring value?

[Emma Coombe]

It's such an important point, Ed, about being selective and doing your own due diligence really carefully, getting a feeling for what the relationship is like between the chair and the CEO and also the chair and the other directors. Great board chairs want to get the best from their board rather than wanting to run the show. We'd now like to introduce our third guest, Rusty O. Kelly, leadership advisor in RRA's Miami office, into the conversation. Rusty, welcome to the Leadership Lounge.

[Rusty O. Kelly]

Thank you. I am happy to be here.

[Emma Coombe]

So, Rusty, let's demystify the board selection process. In your experience advising executives, what are board chairs looking for in their new directors?

[Rusty O. Kelly]

There are three things that impact what a chair and a company is looking for at any, any moment in time. First, what industry are they in? Two is, what is the strategy of the company? Where are they in the business cycle? Are they on an upturn? Are they on a downturn? Are they having an international expansion, or are they having a technology transformation? All of those things are really important in terms of the skill sets that are needed. The third is what is the Board matrix, who's on the board? When are those people going to retire or leave the board? Because all of that influences the skills and experiences that are needed by the board in order to support the company's strategy and to provide help and oversight to management.

[Emma Coombe]

I think your point about the Board matrix is particularly relevant, Rusty. In my work with nomination committees, I've seen how carefully working with us, they map out existing board capabilities against future needs. And sometimes the board might have to pass on a brilliant candidate simply because their skills overlap too much with existing directors. It's rarely about individual qualifications alone, but rather how a new director complements the collective expertise of the board. So, coming back to you, Maggie, what do you think are some of the most valuable skills and experiences that candidates should demonstrate when pursuing board opportunities?

[Maggie Benkert]

It's a great question, Emma. First and foremost, you need to demonstrate that you understand the role of the board and and how it differs from that of management. I recently had a senior executive with a fantastic track record and a great reputation get passed over for a board seat because when she was asked about her experience, she got too deep into the details of operations. You need to make sure you're speaking the language of governance, not management, in terms of specific skills and experiences that will vary from situation to situation and from company to company. But what stays consistent across the board is that we're looking for individuals we say are T shaped.

[Emma Coombe]

Yes, I think the T shape, Maggie, we've talked about previously on this podcast, and it's so important that individuals can contribute across the whole breadth of the board agenda. So they can contribute to an audit committee because they're financially literate. They have the strategic skills to make sure that management are appropriately incentivized in their role on a compensation or remuneration committee. But then on the vertical of the T is where they, as an individual, bring real depth of expertise so they can amplify their input as appropriate around their area of real expertise. But they don't stay silent across the other parts of the board agenda. They appropriately interject because they have a different perspective and a different point of view, and that's equally valuable. So we've covered what attributes organisations are looking for when selecting board candidates, but what specific behaviors truly set exceptional board directors apart from their peers. Once they're in role, board candidates also.

[Maggie Benkert]

Need to demonstrate that they know how to behave in the boardroom. We do a study every three years here at Russell Reynolds where we survey over 1,000 board directors to examine the behaviors they see from their peers. And we Compare those answers against company performance and board effectiveness. When we do that, we find that five behaviors set the most effective directors apart from others. These are individuals with sound judgment and relevant expertise. They constructively engage challenging their peers and management when appropriate. They also demonstrate integrity and the courage to do the right thing for the right reasons. They can also focus and they ask the right questions. And finally, they bring an independent perspective that avoids groupthink and prioritizes the interests of shareholders and other stakeholders.

[Emma Coombe]

What really stands out to me from these five behaviors is non executive directors who can strike the right balance between being challenging but also being supportive. We often hear feedback that former CEOs or CFOs make such good non executive directors because they appreciate the scale of the challenge that the management team is facing into. And they are not just asking questions to prove a point and creating a certain level of defensiveness between the non executives and the executives. It's about pushing the executive management to be the best they can be while still being supportive. And the last thing that a management team needs coming out of a board meeting is a huge list of additional questions to respond to. That takes then a lot more time from their teams when they should be facing into driving the business forward. I think great boards focus on a few key issues and really add value by being as much supportive as they are challenging to the leadership teams. There's also of course, the criticality of having independent perspectives, of having the courage to speak up for what you believe in. Representing different points of view around the board. I advised on the appointment of a board chair last year. The successful candidate was comfortable making statements that might be seen as somewhat outside of the box, even outlandish, to provoke a discussion. And it was not what this board was used to at all, but it was fantastic because it opened up different conversations. It really drew the non executive team together and frankly got them a lot closer to the business, a lot more engaged in what they were trying to achieve. The one thing you don't want on a board, of course, are a sea of nodding heads. Even though it could feel the most comfortable for the people in that room, it's probably the least effective. And that's something that I always hold on to when advising chairs. Ed, I'd like to turn back to you now. What do you think is the best way to build relationships with other board members once a candidate has joined the board board?

[Ed Mason]

So I often say to clients and candidates that some of what you're looking to do is build bonds of trust. Some of that you need to be together. So think about traveling to board meetings or site visits or meeting with employees with another board colleague. There's another interesting aspect which we see increasingly in British boards, and I advise candidates to think about. Is there a board buddy, somebody that you could work with, a fellow non executive director on a particular topic or initiative round the board table? It doesn't have to be chairing formally a subcommittee like audit or remuneration, but perhaps you and one other person have particular expertise around marketing or technology transformation, something where the two of you can work together, establish a relationship of trust and support the executive in something that's actually affecting the business.

[Emma Coombe]

I think the board buddy concept is a great way to build trust early in your tenure. I've also witnessed boards pairing up their non executive directors with a business unit leader and rotating the leader that they pair up with each year. This gives directors the opportunities to get to know a part of the business in a much more granular way and then to effectively represent it or advocate for it in a board meeting context. Rusty, what advice would you give on how to build strong relationships with other board members?

[Rusty O. Kelly]

Go early to the meetings. I know this seems obvious, but it's sometimes surprising how new board members don't take advantage of saying, hey, you know, I want to come in a few hours early. Is there someone I could have coffee with? Or you know, as everyone's racing to a plane, ask who can I ride in the car with? Are we on the same flight? Let's sit together. They may be small things, but they help to get, you know, you as people. Then more proactively. Throughout your first year, make sure around board meetings you schedule a coffee or a drink or a meal before or after the formal board process or board meetings, because that allows you to again to get to know people, to get feedback, to give feedback in a really informal setting.

[Emma Coombe]

You're right, Rusty. And from our board culture and director behavior study, we found actually that only 62% of board directors say that they observe non executive directors on their board, actively cultivating relationships with fellow board members. So it is something which the majority of board directors are investing time into, but not everybody is making obvious enough. And I think there's a lot more that could be done here. I think often those seemingly small gestures can make such a big difference. I also like your suggestion about arriving early because it shows commitment and it creates natural opportunities for relationship building, both with other board directors, but possibly with broader executives in the business as well. Ed, turning back to you, what do you recommend board directors can do to enhance their effectiveness and influence over time.

[Ed Mason]

Here in the UK we talk about this all the time because board directors can serve for three, six, as long as nine years on the board of a public company. The answer is about staying informed and staying current with what's happening at your business, its industry and other industries where there might be relevant learnings and experiences that you can draw in. Perhaps that's from your executive role, where you're seeing the cut and thrust of business on a day to day basis and there's some relevancy to your board role. Perhaps it's because you serve on two or three other boards too and you can bring in learnings, expertise or perhaps even your network from other businesses for the benefit of the board that you're serving on.

[Emma Coombe]

I think we've all seen firsthand how much value board directors get from using their experience and network from another board position, or indeed from their executive role, if they're still in a full time role, to really aid the other business that they're supporting. And that might be leveraging contacts, it might be bringing different experiences, different perspectives and methodologies, but it's so helpful to be able to do that. Our time in the lounge now has come to an end. In 30 seconds, this is what we've learned. Be selective about board opportunities. Ensure it aligns with your skill set, values and career goals. To be effective. Once in the board director seat, you need to demonstrate five key behaviours. Sound judgment, constructively, challenge when appropriate, act with integrity, ask the right questions and possess an independent perspective. Don't underestimate the importance of building strong connections with fellow board members. Small gestures can make a big difference. Consistently seek new learnings to stay current during your board tenure and maximise your contribution. If you have any topics or burning questions you'd like us to cover in future episodes of Leadership Lounge, then get in touch. Email your questions to redefinersusslernolds.com and if you've enjoyed listening to this episode, leave us a five star review on Apple or Spotify. You can find us on LinkedIn and follow us on X raonleadership. You can also find us on Instagram @Redefinerspodcast. Until next time, goodbye.