1. What is the key to being a successful director?

It’s really about understanding your role as a director and fully embracing “your verbs”.

Let me explain.

A significant proportion of board members come from operational backgrounds. 

So if you’re a current or former CEO or C-level executive you spend your days leading, managing, motivating, executing, deciding.

As an operator, these are your verbs.

Using an analogy, C-level executives tend to be player-coaches. 

They are used to finding championship level talent, training them, and drawing up the best plays to put their teams in the best position to win. On occasion the player-coach might strap on their old chin guard and take the field to help secure a win.

But this is not typical of a board member.

As a director your verbs are different from that of an operator.

Board members oversee, advise, govern, evaluate, and approve.

Successful board members typically aren’t player-coaches but rather vital members of world class “front office” teams.

Our job as directors is to monitor the team’s overall direction and performance. We offer strategic advice to “the coach” (i.e., CEO) and evaluate their performance. We ensure “the franchise” (i.e., company) plays by the rules by setting governance structures and policies to ensure ethical operations and regulatory compliance. Lastly, similar to a franchise’s front office we approve significant decisions like budget, C-suite hires, major corporate actions (i.e., M&A, financing, stock issuance and buybacks), and major strategic shifts.

Bottom line, a successful director helps build an enduring franchise that creates value for stakeholders.

2. What has been your most rewarding experience as a director?

As a young director, I had the unique opportunity to chair the nominating committee for Kristi House, a South Florida child advocacy center.

I had gotten to know the president of Kristi House through mutual friends and because of the community work and my board service with a Miami-Dade Parking Authority subcommittee, she recommended me for a board position.

During my second term at Kristi House, I was asked to chair the nominating committee.  While this alone was an honor, the most rewarding experience came about when I had the opportunity to recruit a strong class of directors.  

Among this cohort, I had recruited a particularly high potential candidate who I thought could be great for future leadership within the organization. I had the honor to mentor him and he eventually became President of the organization. 

I love identifying and nurturing talent, setting them up for future success, and this situation resulted in a win for everyone.

3. What piece of advice would you give to those looking to land their first board seat?

Be good. Be around. Be of service.

As to being good, the late Charlie Munger – Warren Buffet’s long term business partner – was known to advise;

| “To get what you want, you have to deserve what you want.”

To secure a board seat, study examples of successful directors, identify the qualities that make them effective and sought after, and develop those traits.

Being around is about being present in the right rooms.

As Woody Allen famously said, “80% of success is showing up.”

It apparently checks out as I’ve seen surveys that indicate upwards of 80% of board seats are filled through personal referrals and networks.

Do you want that referral? Join the associations and attend the events that directors do. 

Ultimately, it’s not who you know, it’s who knows you and the quality of your work.

Which brings us to the final and most important piece – being of service.

Naval Ravikant, founder of AngelList, talks extensively about how the act of just “networking” is overrated. His advice is to “become first and foremost a person of value and the network will be available whenever you need it.”

Remember, boards face a lot of challenges. Having individuals that are good at navigating risks and challenges are worth their weight in gold.

Fred Rogers (Mister Rogers) summed it up, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'” It’s a complex and scary world and boards need the helpers.

So, if you’re skilled, visible, and useful, you’ll be well positioned to land your first board seat.

4. What changes do you anticipate seeing in the boardroom in the next five years?  

In the next five years, boards will likely become slightly younger, more compliant, and more pervasive.

Regarding age, the average board director is about 63, while the average publicly-traded company CEO is 50 and a venture-backed company CEO is around 45. As boards’ needs evolve, they will require more input from active operators who navigate rapidly changing competitive and macroeconomic environments. To keep up, boards will need fresh perspectives and digital savvy, attributes typically found in operators who are more than ten years younger than the current average.

As to compliance, regulatory scrutiny tends to move in one direction … more. Also, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) will present new compliance and oversight challenges, particularly regarding data privacy, cybersecurity, and ethical AI use. Boards will need to enhance their frameworks to keep pace with regulatory requirements and maintain stakeholder trust.

Lastly, expect an increase in the number of boards as more companies remain private longer. While there are only about 4,000 publicly-traded companies in the U.S. (down from roughly 8,000 in the mid-1990s), there are about five times as many private equity-backed businesses in the US. Additionally, there are over 50,000 private venture-backed U.S. startups.

As more dollars flow into the private markets, investors and institutional LPs will likely demand greater oversight and governance that only well-constituted boards can provide.