Redefiners
Leadership Lounge: Boardroom Bound: How to Navigate Your Journey from Executive to Board Director
Wed, 26 Mar 2025
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? And how can you maximize your impact once you're there?In this episode of Leadership Lounge, we talk to some of our trusted advisors—Maggie Benkert, Edward Mason, and Rusty O'Kelley—who share their perspectives on: How to evaluate whether a board opportunity is the right fit What board chairs are looking for in new directors The behaviors that set exceptional board directors apart How to build effective relationships with fellow board members "I advise clients and candidates to be really 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." Ed Mason, Leadership Advisor, Russell Reynolds Associates. Four things you'll learn from this episode:Be strategic and selective when pursuing board opportunities. Ensures it aligns with your career goals, skills, and values. Board selection committees value ‘T-shaped’ leaders who bring both breadth across strategic decision-making and depth in specialized focus areas. The most effective board directors demonstrate five key behaviors: sound judgment, constructive engagement, integrity, asking the right questions, and bringing independent perspectives. Don’t underestimate the importance of building strong connections with fellow board members. Small gestures can make a big difference. In this episode, we will cover: What questions executives should ask themselves before pursuing board opportunities. Three key things boards look for when appointing new directors. The importance of speaking the language of governance rather than management during board interviews. Practical strategies for building relationships with fellow board members. How to maximize your contribution and stay effective throughout your board tenure. A closer look at the research from this episode: 2025 Board Culture and Director Behavior Study, Russell Reynolds Associates
Chapter 1: What challenges do today's board directors face?
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 redefiners at russellreynolds.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.
Hi, Emma.
Thanks for having me.
It's great to be here.
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Chapter 2: How to evaluate the right board opportunity?
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?
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.
Chapter 3: What should executives consider before joining a board?
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.
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.
Emma, thanks for having me.
Ed, building on what Maggie said about finding the right board opportunity, what's your perspective on how executives should evaluate potential board roles?
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?
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Chapter 4: What are the key characteristics board chairs look for?
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.
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 organizations are looking for when selecting board candidates, but what specific behaviors truly set exceptional board directors apart from their peers once they're enrolled?
Board candidates also 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 a thousand 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.
What really stands out to me from these five behaviours 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.
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Chapter 5: How important is the board matrix in director selection?
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 them 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, it 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?
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 travelling 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 around 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.
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Chapter 6: What skills make a candidate stand out in board roles?
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?
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 to 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.
You're right, Rusty. And from our board culture and director behaviour 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?
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.
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