By Sonya Beyers
Becoming a board member offers a unique opportunity not only in professional development, but also in personal growth.
I’m not aware of anywhere else where you have the capacity to extend yourself and contribute like you can when you’re on a board of directors.
Of course you will gain new skills and knowledge, you can broaden your contacts and also contribute in a meaningful way, all of which will strengthen your career and business prospects.
It’s a space too though, where you will be not only intellectually stimulated and challenged but can find an opportunity for profound personal growth that you can’t access in another space.
Here are six benefits to becoming a board member:
1. Career advancement
Making the leap from employee to that of a board director requires a shift in mindset, particularly if you’re not currently in a reporting role.
However an employee or mid-level manager who becomes a board member puts themselves in a position to understand the other side of business and learn the critical importance of effective reporting, making them a better future senior manager.
2. Become a better decision maker
Taking a position at the table in the boardroom requires you to make decisions as part of a group. Research shows the mind behaves differently in this situation – you’re more likely to reflect on your own ideas and biases then if you were making decisions on your own.
As 90 percent of your decisions are based on your own subconscious, contributing as a board member will challenge you to reconsider those sub-conscious biases as you will no doubt come across differing opinions at the table.
3. Learn complex thinking skills
The skill of complex thinking isn’t innate – it’s a learned skill which you can start by being aligned to a group and identifying how you can add value to that group.
If you’re in complex thinking mode, you then challenge yourself and your peers. The skills you learn on a board then transfer into real life.
My time as a board member has fundamentally shifted how I approach parenting, how I contribute as a consultant, even how I address people.
You learn to consider the matter at hand, not the person and it makes you a better team player as a result.
4. Leadership development
The boardroom is a training ground for leadership.
Sometimes part of being on a board means making tough decisions. Sometimes, there is no good decision, but it’s a case of making the best of the worst decisions.
You might have to choose redundancies, close a part of a business, or terminate a contract for services, and know that those decisions will impact on people negatively.
It challenges you as a leader and to do things you might not otherwise do but have no choice to do.
5. Broadens your contacts
A mentor said to me years ago: “You mustn’t accept a board role unless you’re confident because their reputation becomes yours and yours becomes theirs.”
Joining a board offers the opportunity to expand your networks and contacts. It also offers the reverse – you bring your own networks and contacts to the board as well.
6. Make a socially responsible contribution
If you’re somebody who has the skills and experience, you can challenge the entity you are a board member of and ask if they are making decisions with a social conscious.
For those with a passion for a certain cause, there is also the opportunity to sit on a board of a not-for-profit associated with that cause and contribute to something you care deeply about.
Whilst there are many benefits to becoming a board member, it’s a role not to be taken lightly. It carries with it a high level of responsibility, effort and risk.
So before you agree and jump on board, consider these factors:
- Are you prepared to allocate the time necessary?
- Are you prepared to think differently and contribute in a group environment?
- Are you willing to be challenged and also respectfully challenge your peers?
- Are you willing to make the commitment to understand the business and industry and remain informed and up to date with any changes?
If it’s a yes to those, then get on board.
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