Becoming a Non Executive Director (NED) is an increasingly common ambition. The good news is that at least 50% of companies recruit a new Board Member every year. That means there are 90,000+ Australian NED board roles filled annually. However, it is a highly competitive environment. As such, if you want to get appointed, the biggest mistake you can make is not starting the process early and not understanding how board appointments are made.
Why You Should Consider a Board Appointment
If you haven’t considered a NED appointment, you should. A study from Harvard Business Review found that serving on a board increases an executives likelihood of being promoted by 44% and even if they weren’t promoted their annual pay increased by 13%. Further studies have shown that those who hold a NED appointment in addition to an executive role: have greater job security and are unemployed less. Sitting on a board can also help future proof your career, prepare for retirement, redundancy or a career change. Board appointments also help you work more effectively with your own board and facilitate new connections – useful for both business development and pleasure. A board appointment today more than ever should be part of your career plan.
Career Development
Regardless of remuneration, all board appointments: offer the opportunity to brand yourself as a non executive director; demonstrate your strategic expertise and; the networks developed can be leveraged professionally and personally.
Additional Income
Whilst some board directors get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars the average commercial NED gets $35k-$65k and because governing boards are essential to most organisations they are rarely affected by global financial downturns.
Personal Development
Giving back to an industry, sector or cause you are passionate about drives many directors. Whether in a commercial or NFP setting, sitting on a board of an organisation you are passionate about is a terrific way to utilise your skills and experience.
Don't Do It Alone
Finding and gaining a Non Executive or Advisory Board role is challenging. However, gaining a board appointment within 12 months should be your ambition. Whether you are starting your journey or are an experienced Non Executive wanting to develop a portfolio career – we have a suite of services designed to get you appointed.
If you… Don’t know where to begin your board career? Are unsure of the board appointment process and need guidance? Are unclear which board is likely to appoint you and need clarity? Don’t know where to find board opportunities? Are struggling to transition from an Executive/CEO to a Non Executive and need advice? You don’t know how much Non Executives get paid and how long it will take to get appointed? Or, are just unclear whether a board appointment is for you? … then we can help.
Our Board Appointment Solutions
With over 15 years of board recruitment experience and having appointed hundreds of individuals to some of the most significant board roles in the world few know more about how and why people get appointed than us. Utilising this experience, we have designed four exclusive packages that have helped thousands of people gain a board appointment.
Each of our packages has been designed to help our members gain board appointments – our services are not offered elsewhere and each package includes access to Australia’s largest list board vacancies and our Non Executive Program guarantees a board appointment. Find out more here.
Work privately with David – Australia’s leading board recruitment expert.
This is a full training and accountability program that guarantees you a board appointment within 12 months. Working 1:1 with David the program focuses on our signature 5 part board appointment process – ‘Planning’ ‘Documents’ ‘Roles’ Support’ and ‘Accountability’ and includes a full 12 months of personal coaching, training and support. There is no better way to develop a board career or gain your first board appointment. Find out more…
A board appointment in 12 months. That is what the Executive Membership primes you for.
Focusing on 3 core principles (Articulation, Aspiration, Application) this package takes you through the 5 step board appointment plan (Planning, Documents, Roles, Support, Accountability) and includes access to thousands of board vacancies and the documents required to get appointed.
The Access+ package gives you access to over 5,000 board vacancies annually and a bespoke NED CV written for you.
Every board vacancy is sourced for you by our team of experts so that you never miss a board opportunity. Further, to help you get appointed we will also write you a NED CV that will separate you from your competitors by addressing the 5 core elements a Chair wants to see in a successful candidate. Your NED CV will be personally written by David Schwarz and, once completed, we will update your LinkedIn profile too. Find out more.
Don’t have time or don’t know where to find board opportunities? You are not alone.
The ACCESS package provides our members access to over 5,000 board vacancies we advertise each year that we personally source for you. Since inception we have advertised close to 15,000 individual board opportunities resulting in thousands of board appointments. We are Australia’s leading advertiser of board vacancies.
International Options
If you are located outside of Australia or New Zealand, we have alternate membership packages. Our sister site in the UK – boardappointments.co.uk – provides access to UK Board Vacancies plus vital support services to get a board appointment within 12 months. For the rest of the world, boardappointments.com offers access to all our Board Appointment Coaching Program and board application support.
What We Do Works
Since our launch in 2013 Board Direction has successfully worked with thousands of clients and over 50,000 have subscribed to receive our weekly newsletters and board vacancy alerts. We could not have gained, or maintained, this level of support if what we did didn’t work. Below is just some of the feedback we have received. In fact, you can see just some of our successes here.
Thanks to my Board Direction membership my non-executive career is well underway. I secured two non-executive board positions this year.