Boardroom Realities: Are You Ready?

Aspiring women board candidates need to remember that they are also competing against each other when being considered for board seats. 

Securing the Board
An aspiring candidate needs to stand out by positioning herself via networking and leveraging effectively on social media. The LinkedIn profile should reflect the gist of her board profile. The key here is “The Boards must have heard of you.”

“As a board member, you are expected to be able to contribute in a wide range of topics during board meetings. Therefore, acquiring broad knowledge beyond your specialised knowledge/skills is a necessity.”

The panelists, Johan Raslan and Tunku Alina Alias were sharing their thoughts at the recent panel session on Conversations with Mentors: Boardroom Realities: Are you ready? The moderators were Nikki Gee and, Tengku Marina Badlishah (who is also the host). The event was an initiative by Mentee Circle through its Board Mentoring Scheme.

If a situation arises – assuming the merits of two board candidates are the same – the differentiating factor in the choice of candidates may include chemistry and fit.  

When you are in Board
As part of prep for your first board meeting, do get to know each board member and understand the board dynamics. 

“Be courageous; speak-out and get your comments minuted; trust your guts! Choose your battles wisely!.” echoed the panelists. 

Also, do keep yourselves updated with ESG. Do attend ESG-related webinars. Understand how companies do their business and make profit and understand how employees/workers are being treated. 

The above are the views shared by the panelists at the recently concluded panel session earlier this month.