How to create a compelling board profile
Your board profile is your “shop window” to the world. It’s your brand.
Done well, it’ll reap real rewards. Don’t just add to your old executive CV!
Here are the key steps to optimise your profile:
- Your job title. This will be the 1st thing people see and remember, along with your name and photo. You are plural, so create your own ‘job title’ – i.e. how you’d like to be known. Keep it snappy. For example: “Media & Advertising industry Chair, SID, & RemCo. member. PLC oriented”.
- Value proposition. You MUST identify your board VP in 2-3 sentences. Your value proposition is your magnet; it’ll drive the right opportunities to you. e.g.: “Two-time former software CEO, one VC and one PE-backed, both successfully exited. Now Chair and NED of companies X, Y and X. Particular strategic board contribution to the growth agenda; including M&A, GTM, US market entry, pricing, and organic growth”.
- Add your photo! Like it or not, your photo is your brand. It’ll be how people recollect and place you. Without it, trust is eroded, and your profile will be devoid of personality.
- Demonstrate that you are active. This is best achieved by a brief outline of your current and previous board roles.
- Don’t forget your executive career! You will be assessed on your executive career. The more recent it was, the more closely it will be assessed. So, include it, but proportionately so.
- Context is everything. You MUST identify what the companies you were engaged by did (e.g. “semiconductors”), asset class (e.g. “NASDAQ listed”), scale (e.g. revenue and headcount), country HQ
- Storytelling. Briefly identifying the organisation’s purpose, its mission when you joined, your contribution, and how the journey ended creates engaging content.
- Two pages are plenty. Make every word count.