Why would women want to pursue a board career? - Women's Agenda

Why would women want to pursue a board career?

Director duties, legal risks, competing personalities and a world still largely dominated by men: why would any woman want to pursue a board career?

It was a question a successful and well-connected business owner asked me recently. She said she’s often asked to apply for board positions but always says ‘no’. While she supports other women with such ambitions and wants to see more women acquire board positions, she said such a career is simply not for her.

And it was a question I put to a Women on Board roundtable, made up of a wide range of participants from those skilling up to develop a board career later, to others on the boards of a number of not-for-profits and others again on ASX-listed boards.

Lawyer and non-executive director Nicki Bowman told the roundtable she understood why women with the experience to pursue board positions might avoid doing so. “There is a lot of governance involved, there is a lot of distance from the business that doesn’t exist when you’re in the day-to-day operations,” she said.

“If you’re the sort of person who loves to be in the business every day, surrounded by people, jumping in and out of planes and putting out fires, well that’s not what boards do … It’s not necessarily a natural evolution from executive life, and it’s not a compulsory evolution from executive life.”

Marketing and advertising expert Sue Woodward shared the story of her very first board encounter as an independent director on a sporting board. It was highly dysfunctional, ineffective, and she was the first new director to join the board in 10 years. She said she witnessed bullying and harassment and was personally put down for suggesting directors pursue additional training. She resigned.

And she still wanted to pursue such a career anyway? “It didn’t turn me off boards as I realised I have a contribution to make,” she said. “It’s made me a lot more acute regarding which boards I’ll join. As for the pain I went through there, well from what I understand it is now a lot more functional so I’ve left a legacy.”

Most of the women who participated in the roundtable saw a current or potential board career as a means to leverage their existing skills and experience, and an opportunity to pursue a second stage to their career.

Non-executive director and former NAB CIO Michelle Tredenick said her board career has provided just that. “I wanted to build another leg of my career, so I have sort of approached being on boards as pretty much a career director for 10 to 20 years.” She’s careful with the roles she accepts, always considering the longevity of the career she wants when deciding which positions to pursue.

Engineer and PhD candidate Raji Ambikairajah is currently up-skilling in order to pursue a board career later on. She said while she’s not out to get on a large ASX-listed board just yet, she felt it was important to understand the gaps in her skillset early so she can prepare for the option of a board career later on. Like Tredenick, she sees boards as an opportunity to develop a secondary career later on.

Some women on the roundtable agreed a board career is also an opportunity to access a more flexible career – which Bowman said has been particularly useful while raising her young daughter, even though it adds some uncertainty to what she’ll be doing day to day.

Former KPMG tax partner turned non-executive director and business owner Helen Wiseman has also pursued a board career while raising children. “It wasn’t the reason for leaving my corporate role, but I have found that flexibility to be very useful in terms of handling childcare pickup and school drop-offs, which I share with my husband.”

However, some women cautioned against this – noting that the life stage when women might be chasing such flexibility is not necessarily the time when they will have acquired enough experience to get the paid board positions needed to earn an income.

Indeed, a board career should not be viewed as an “alternative career path”. “I think we need to step away from that,” said Tredenick. “Being on a board is another arm of a career that’s legitimate at any point in time, and men would not describe seeking board roles as the ‘alternative’ or ‘flexible’ way to exit [a corporate job]. I think we need to get really smart about how we describe our passion for being on boards and what our careers are actually about. It’s another arm of a career. It’s not an alternative.”

Bowman added that the decision to pursue a board career ultimately comes down to the individual. “You do really have to understand your own personality and your own desires.”

Check back with Women’s Agenda for more on the Women on Boards roundtable.

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