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????親愛的安妮：我拜讀了你最近的專欄，文章討論了引起高管獵頭注意的方法，恰好和我幾年前找到現有職位的方法不謀而合，那么同樣的建議是否適用于吸引那些董事獵頭呢？我是一家中型非上市公司的首席財務官，同時還擔任著若干非盈利組織的董事，其中還有一個是全國性的組織，但我還沒找到被邀請出任公司董事的訣竅。我知道通常這就是一個人脈關系的問題，甚至于誰是你的高爾夫球友都很重要。都什么年代了，現在還是這個老套路嗎？你（或者你的讀者）知道如何成為董事候選人的內部訣竅嗎？— 隨時待命 ????親愛的隨時待命：你提這個問題的時機很有意思，因為現在有很多公司都抱怨說找不到既勝任又有意愿的董事候選人。部分原因是由于包括薩班斯-奧克斯利法案、多德-弗蘭克法案在內的聯邦法和監管條例改革，董事職位比以前要求更高、更費時費力。 ????所以現在可能是在公司董事會謀求一席之地的大好時機。總的來說，你在什么樣的非盈利組織擔任董事也很重要。“如果早先在健保或者醫院系統擔任董事，它將對加入公司董事會大有幫助。”拉爾夫?沃德自1997年以來一直擔任電子郵件雜志《董事會線報》（Boardroom Insider）的編輯和出版人，他認為：“在健保行業的兼并浪潮中，董事會要處理巨額預算以及復雜的財務和戰略問題，與公司董事的任務非常類似。” ????你提到，你當初是通過獵頭找到現在這份工作，不妨再和他聯系聯系。“確實有些獵頭的專長是延攬董事，但通過熟識的高管獵頭效果會更好，就算他/她沒有從事過延攬董事方面的業務，”沃德說。“貿然聯系一位素不相識的獵頭遠遠不如從很欣賞你的人得來的推薦要管用。” ????同時就像你說的，要想被挑選做董事，多數時候仍然需要認識在任的董事們，所以要努力做些有針對性的聯絡工作。“首先，確定哪個或哪幾個董事會是你中意的，”馬克?羅杰斯如此建議，這位波士頓的律師經營的服務網站BoardProspects致力于為合格的候選人和董事空缺實現對接。“然后想方設法結交這些董事會的在任董事，其中有些人說不定在你的非盈利組織活動中已經間接認識了。” ????一定要耐心，羅杰斯說：“也許要過個一兩年，合適的機會才會到來。這是一個漫長的歷程。”社交媒體也許會讓這個過程提速。“研究一下對商務社交網站LinkedIn上的公司治理小組，”沃德建議。“找到其中是最活躍的小組，申請加入。然后參與討論，時不時做點評論，發表見解，也許就會有人注意到你。” ????他還說：“Twitter上也有很多涉及公司治理的討論。要積極參與。在Twitter上搜索‘公司治理’或者‘公司董事會’，開始關注搜到的相關人等。確實要投入不少時間，但確實經常有這樣被挑中做董事的情況。” |
????Dear Annie: I read your recent column on how to get noticed by executive recruiters, which is actually how I got my current job a few years ago, but does the same advice apply to attracting headhunters who fill board seats? I am a chief financial officer at a medium-sized private company and have served on a couple of nonprofit boards, including one for a national organization, but I haven't yet cracked the code for getting asked to join a corporate board. I understand this has traditionally been a matter of "who you know," including who your golfing buddies are. Is that still true in this day and age? Do you (or your readers) have any inside tips on how to be considered for a directorship? — Ready and Waiting ????Dear R.W.: You've chosen an interesting moment to ask, since many companies claim they're having trouble finding enough board candidates who are both qualified and willing. That's partly because federal laws and regulations, including Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank, have made board membership more demanding and time-consuming than it used to be. ????So this may be a good moment to go after a spot on a corporate board. In general, it does matter what kind of nonprofit board experience you have. "Anyone who wants to join a corporate board would do well to start with membership in the board of a health care or hospital system," says Ralph Ward, editor and publisher since 1997 of the newsletter Boardroom Insider. "With all the consolidation going on in health care now, those boards are dealing with huge budgets, and with complex financial and strategic issues, that are very similar to what corporate directors have to tackle." ????Since you mention that you got your current job through a headhunter, get in touch with that person. "Some recruiters do specialize in finding board members, but a better way to go is to work through an executive recruiter you already know, even if directorships are outside his or her usual area," says Ward. "A referral from someone who is already a fan of yours is much more likely to get you somewhere than 'cold calling' a recruiter who knows nothing about you." ????At the same time, getting picked for a board seat is still, as you note, largely a matter of knowing the right people who are already on boards, so be ready to do some serious targeted networking. "First, identify which board, or boards, you'd like to join," suggests Mark Rogers, a Boston attorney who runs BoardProspects, an online service aimed at matching qualified candidates with openings. "Then find ways to connect with the people on them, a few of whom you may already know indirectly through your nonprofit activities." ????Be patient, Rogers advises: "It may take a year or two for the right opportunity to come along. This is a long process." Social media may speed things up a bit. "Do some research into governance-related groups on LinkedIn," Ralph Ward suggests. "Find the most active ones, and join them. Participating in discussions, chiming in with comments and insights, can get you noticed." ????He adds that "there's also a lot of governance-related tweeting going on. So get your name out there. Look up 'corporate governance' or 'corporate boards' on Twitter and start following people you find that way. It takes an investment of time, but it does often result in being tapped for a board seat." |
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