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How Smart Girls Get On Corporate Boards

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For women who aspire to serve on a corporate board, sisterhood was alive and well in New York last week. Two headhunters who vet executives for these cushy spots occupied center stage at a Tuesday lunchtime program hosted by The Conference Board. During the following two days, power women from around the world gathered at the annual Women Corporate Directors Global Institute, to hear panel discussions about everything from executive compensation; to recruiting, managing, and marketing to Millennials.

So busy were they schmoozing at the organization’s Wednesday evening awards ceremony, honoring companies with exemplary diversity programs, that many of the 250 women in attendance had not yet heard about the unceremonious dismissal of Jill Abramson, the first female executive editor of The New York Times. The Times building, where the announcement had been made three hours earlier to a startled newsroom, is about a 15-minute walk (in high heels) from the Marriott Marquis Hotel, where the WCD dinner was held.

As controversy swirled around reports that Abramson’s dismissal was gender-based, there was parallel talk at the WCD meeting about the subtle and not-so-subtle biases that keep women out of the boardroom. The old boys’ network is alive and well, with board members – still predominantly male – recommending their buddies for openings.

Among the S&P 100, women occupy just 19% of the board seats, according to a study last year by Calvert Investment Management, a mutual fund company that specializes in socially responsible investments. Suzanne M. Hopgood, a workout specialist who has served on the board of nine companies (five of which are public companies), says that on only one of them was there another woman.

Further complicating the quest for diversity: Those who overcome the barriers to entry may have trouble hanging onto their board seats or getting additional ones if they question the status quo. In remarks at the conference Nell Minow, a principal at GMI Ratings, a corporate governance analytics company, said she recently met with a woman director who was removed from a board because she questioned a CEO’s pay. In a comment afterward, she said she is aware of many other similar situations.

For women – and men – who play the boardroom game successfully, a corporate directorship offers challenges, connections and cold cash. One conference speaker, Marion Blakey, whose credentials include a five-year stint as head of the Federal Aviation Administration, earned around $100,000 last year (in cash and stock) as an outside director for Alaska Air Group, Inc. and chair of the board's Safety Committee. That’s in addition to what she makes at her “day job,” as CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, the major aerospace trade group.

Apart from being potentially lucrative, board service can expand your horizons, present intellectual challenges, and offer meaningful work for those who can’t see themselves fully retiring after traditional employment ends. Many boards don’t require you to step down until age 72, and some have no age limits.

No wonder directorships have become a mainstay for lots of ex-CEOs and former high-ranking government officials. High-profile women entrepreneurs and the rare breed of Fortune 500 woman CEOs are trophies for corporate boards. But the merely accomplished tend to have more difficulty snagging these coveted positions. All the more reason for women to help each other. To that end, Susan S. Stautberg, co-founder of WCD, played hostess extraordinaire at last week’s event, making sure that those who attended the two-day institute ($1,850 for members; $2,050 for non-members) met the right people.

Barbara Reno, an independent director of a family investment firm, pronounced the meeting worth the journey from her home base in Brussels.  “It’s a chance not only to confer with other sitting board members from a wide range of companies and geographies, but also to share perspectives on thorny boardroom challenges,” she says. Of particular interest: a panel discussion on the hot topic of executive compensation moderated by Christie Hefner, daughter of the legendary Playboy founder Hugh, and an accomplished business woman in her own right – she’s currently executive chairman of Canyon Ranch Enterprises.

Here is some of the advice about how to get on a corporate board, gleaned from speakers and other audience members attending The Conference Board and WCD programs.

Start young. Too late for those attending last week’s events – most were boomers – but a great strategy for their daughters and younger colleagues. Maneuver in your 30s and 40s through non-profit board involvement, political connections and company activities, so you meet people who are themselves on boards, says Betsy Berkhemer-Credaire, president of the executive search firm Berkhemer Clayton, and author of The Board Game: How Smart Women Become Corporate Directors.

One of the key credentials for board members is experience being accountable for the profits and losses of a company. “P&L responsibility,” as it’s called, is usually something one only gets by being an upper-level executive. And for various reasons, women are still poorly represented in the C-suite: because of job discrimination, failure to “lean in,” and taking time off the career track for motherhood. Gen Xers and Millennials take note.

“Boards want people who can be contributors,” Kim A. Van Der Zon, head of U.S. board practice at Egon Zehnder International, told the audience at The Conference Board program. Since women have held fewer P&L roles than men, "You have to work that much harder and your network needs to be that much stronger."

Another thing to do in the early decades of your career is to bond with older colleagues who can give you a leg up. In lieu of hackneyed and sometimes awkward mentoring relationships, consider becoming what’s popularly called a “reverse mentor.” The Coca-Cola Company, which sponsors Global Shapers Community – a network of Millennials outside the company who participate in the World Economic Forum – has taken the idea in-house, says Ceree Eberly, Coke’s chief people officer in Atlanta and a panel moderator at the WCD event. This group of reverse mentors who are Coca-Cola employees and call themselves “the Millennial Pirates,” provide perspective on Coke products that senior executives can take into the board room, Eberly says.

Be strategic. Acquire marketable expertise. Knowledge of digital technology, the regulatory environment and executive compensation are in popular demand. But to parlay those skills into a board membership takes a lot of networking, said Berkhemer-Credaire, speaking at The Conference Board event. "You're not going to get on a board unless someone on that board already knows you" or is closely connected to someone who can vouch for your qualifications, preparation and ability to get along with others.

Service on a nonprofit board is one way to get in the game, but it should be a large nonprofit board, she adds. Think university trusteeships; directorships at large nonprofits that deal with “any part of the body” and prestigious arts organizations. Their boards are populated with people who also sit on the boards of public companies, so it’s a great way to make connections.

Understand headhunters. Recruiters, who increasingly get involved in the search process, are bombarded with resumes from wannabes. Most often, they are retained to vet candidates who are already under consideration, rather than to discover new “talent.” If you want them to also be your advocate, make their job easy by identifying in your bio something they can sell, advises Van Der Zon. Example: experience with cost-cutting at a company during a transition and preparation for sale. Neither she nor Berkhemer-Credaire consult lists of board hopefuls such as that maintained by the National Association of Corporate Directors.

Create digital footprints. In this context, as in others, serendipitous online connections can lead to pleasant surprises. For example, last fall, a senior education management consultant whom Reno had known professionally 20 years ago ran across her name on LinkedIn. They met for coffee the next time Reno was in New York, and in the course of conversation she decided Reno’s governance and chief executive experience was a perfect match for a major university in Europe she had worked with. A letter to the president suggesting Reno for the board opened the door. Her nomination is awaiting a board vote later this month.

Go global. International experience (especially in Asia) is also in demand, says Van Der Zon. Depending on the company that might mean an international posting, extensive overseas business travel, or responsibility for foreign markets, she said in an email after The Conference Board program. Other boards want someone who deeply understands the culture and consumers and may insist the executive have on-the-ground experience. It’s rare for a board of a company headquartered in the United States to insist that board members be fluent in a foreign language. But if you want a seat on the board of a company based in another country, that might be an issue.

Bank on a start up. Carolyn Chin, CEO of Cebiz, a consulting and investment firm, got her first directorship about 20 years ago by investing $10,000 in Allegiance Bank in Llewelyn Park, N.J. As a condition, she insisted that she be appointed to the board. Lucky she did. Turns out she was the only company director with banking experience (she worked for Citigroup at the time) – the rest were doctors and dentists who lived in the community.

Chin, who has since served on more than 30 boards, advisory committees and commissions – she’s currently on the board of State Farm Bank – now runs “Onboard Boot Camps” to help women and minorities join corporate boards. Among other things, she recommends aspiring directors attend events that will put them in the company of CEOs. Renaissance Weekends are one example.

Get even smarter. Accreditation programs for non-executive directors offered by major universities and INSEAD, National Association of Corporate Directors and Financial Times, among others, can provide insights about what’s involved and help make you a better director. But completing these courses won’t get you in the door if you’re not otherwise “board ready,” Van Der Zon wrote in an email. “There are too many other well-qualified candidates who have the relevant business experience the boards are seeking.”

Host a schmoozefest. Theo Schwabacher, a wealth manager with Morgan Stanley in San Francisco, last May organized an event that might be called “speed dating corporate directors.” The invitation, sent to 75 members of the WCD Northern California chapter, read, “Bring your favorite director to cocktails.” Schwabacher arranged for booze and hors d’oeuvres at Villa Taverna -- an exclusive San Francisco club of which she’s a member. All she asked was that each guest bring a director “who could learn from the experience.” Tables in the room were arranged by topic, and organized so that guests, wearing a name tag with the name of their company and an elevator pitch for their skills, could easily circulate.

As it happened, most of the directors who accompanied WCD members as guests were men. The event resulted in at least eight interviews and two major board appointments, including a directorship with Schwab. That makes it a “raging success,” Schwabacher says. “It was a nice way of making introductions without being uncomfortable.”

Archive of Forbes Articles By Deborah Jacobs

Deborah L. Jacobs, a lawyer and journalist, is the author of Estate Planning Smarts: A Practical, User-Friendly, Action-Oriented Guide, now available in the third edition.