Achieving success in the C-suite brings a definite level of professional satisfaction — and often, a question: What’s next?
For many senior leaders, the natural progression is joining a corporate board. Being on a board offers the opportunity to leverage years of strategic experience, extend professional influence, and contribute to the growth of other organizations.
But it takes more than an impressive resume to secure a board role. Here’s how you can use LinkedIn to make yourself not only visible but also compelling to the boards you want to join.
Profile: Establish the Foundation
Your LinkedIn profile provides the cornerstone of your online presence. Before a board considers you, they will Google you, and your LinkedIn profile is usually the first entry they find. Craft your profile to ensure anyone who visits can quickly see your board-ready skills and experience.
- Headline: Use your headline to highlight governance expertise or leadership skills that align with board responsibilities. For example:
- Chief Financial Officer | Corporate Governance | Audit Committee Leadership
- Executive Vice President, Strategy & Development| Strategy & Governance Expert
- About: Create a concise narrative showcasing executive achievements and readiness for board service. Highlight:
- Key leadership roles and achievements, particularly those involving P&L responsibility, operations excellence, risk management, and stakeholder relations.
- Specific board-related skills, such as compliance, crisis management, and financial oversight.
- Industry knowledge and how you can bring strategic insights to a board.
- Experience: Tailor this section to emphasize your board-relevant roles. Highlight your ability to handle governance responsibilities, make strategic decisions, and navigate complex challenges, whether it’s leading turnarounds, heading up post-merger integration, managing crises, or transforming business models.
- Skills: Include skills essential for board service — P&L responsibility, corporate governance, risk management, strategic planning — to enhance discoverability and credibility.
- Publications and Media: Link to podcasts, articles, and speaking engagements, especially those covering board-relevant topics. This reinforces your expertise and thought leadership.
Pro Tip: If you’ve served on boards, add a job entry for each one to detail your contributions, committee roles, and the impact you’ve made.
Networking: Cultivate the Right Connections
Cultivating a robust network of these connections on LinkedIn boosts your visibility and credibility with the individuals and firms that play a role in board recruitment. Build your connections with:
- Current and Former Board Members: People who have served on boards often know of opportunities or can recommend you.
- Executive Recruiters: Recruiters who specialize in boards of director roles can play a crucial role in board selection.
- CEOs and Senior Executives: Many executives have direct input in board appointments, particularly in private or smaller public companies.
- Corporate Governance Experts and Industry Leaders: Connect with thought leaders in governance to expand your reach and visibility in the boardroom community.
- Private Equity and Venture Capital Contacts: These firms regularly seek executives for their portfolio company boards.
- Institutional Investors and Shareholders: Institutional investors often influence public company boards, so connecting with these professionals can provide valuable insight into upcoming changes.
Posting: Demonstrate Expertise and Boardroom Readiness
Your LinkedIn posts build credibility and showcase the knowledge and skills boards are looking for. Each of these topics showcases your qualifications while adding value to your network by offering board-level insights and thought leadership:
- Corporate Governance and Leadership Insights: Share posts that highlight governance expertise and understanding of board responsibilities, including effective governance practices, ethical corporate behavior, and strategies for navigating board dynamics.
- Industry Trends and Challenges: Share insights on trends and challenges within your industry. Discuss how issues like AI, regulatory changes, or cybersecurity affect strategic decisions at the board level.
- Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG): ESG is a priority for many boards. Demonstrate your understanding by posting about sustainability, social responsibility, and how to balance profitability with impact.
- Crisis Management and Risk Mitigation: Boards need directors with experience in navigating crises. Share reflections on crisis handling, lessons from past experiences, and strategies for risk mitigation.
- Boardroom Diversity and Inclusion: Diversity is increasingly recognized as being correlated with better decision-making. Show you understand the strategic advantages of diverse perspectives and inclusive leadership practices.
Engagement: Build Connections Through Interaction
Engagement on LinkedIn goes beyond posting. Strengthen relationships, expand visibility, and establish yourself as an approachable, insightful professional by actively interacting with the posts of your network. Regular, authentic engagement — liking, commenting, and even sharing posts — boosts your presence and positions you as an active participant in boardroom discussions. Focus on engaging with:
- Peers, Board Members, and CEOs: Build rapport by liking and commenting on their posts, showing that you’re invested in their insights and updates.
- Industry Thought Leaders and Recruiters: Interacting thoughtfully with their content can help you stay on their radar.
- Key Company Accounts: Engaging with posts from companies where you’re interested signals your familiarity with and support for their values and goals.
First Steps: Board Service Progression
For many execs, board service starts with smaller, nonprofit, or advisory boards, building a foundation of board experience before moving to larger corporate boards. If this is your path, focus on nurturing relationships with people you meet in these roles, as they can lead to future opportunities. A typical progression:
- Nonprofit Board: These boards allow you to gain governance experience, demonstrate leadership, and expand your network with other board members.
- Advisory Board: Advisory roles, especially in startups, provide valuable exposure to board responsibilities and a chance to contribute to growth initiatives.
- Small Company Corporate Board: Serving on smaller corporate boards can further refine your governance skills and strategic thinking.
- Larger Company Corporate Board: With experience and proven impact, you can transition to larger boards, where the stakes and visibility are higher.
Be Proactive: Strategize Your Approach
To accelerate the process, take an active approach by researching organizations on LinkedIn. Identify nonprofits, startups, or companies poised for growth and engage with their content and leaders. By strategically connecting with and adding value to these organizations, you position yourself as a top candidate when they begin seeking new board members.
Follow and Engage: Regularly engage with the posts of the CEO, board members, and other leadership team members of organizations of interest.
Offer Value: For nonprofits or small companies, consider offering insights on their challenges or sharing relevant resources. Over time, this can create rapport and position you as a potential valuable addition to their board.
Make LinkedIn Work for You
Board service offers senior leaders a new level of influence and impact, but it requires strategy, preparation, and commitment. LinkedIn can be the bridge between your executive achievements and your board ambitions — and help you stand out as the board member companies want and need.
If you’re ready to leverage your executive experience to make an impact at the board level, our team can guide you toward achieving that goal. We’ve helped many leaders secure board roles and are here to support you in every step of your journey. Reach out to me directly through LinkedIn or book an appointment to start shaping your path to board service.