Mark Linsz, Co-Founder, MyNextSeason
Are Boards Right for You? A Tale of Two Retirees and What to Consider Before Making the Leap
Retirement is one of the most significant career transitions, and it can seem distant until it suddenly arrives. Preparing for this major life transition is deeply personal and unique to you. It offers an opportunity to discern what you choose to spend your time on, with whom, and where you want to live, a chance to redefine your purpose and commit to building a new kind of legacy.
For many, serving on a board can be an enriching and impactful way to stay engaged, leverage decades of experience, and contribute to complex organizational decisions. While many aspire to secure a board seat in this new phase, success in this endeavor requires thoughtful reflection and alignment with the unique talents and competence you can offer an organization. Before leaping into this decision, it’s essential to pause, discern, and consider if this path aligns with your goals, skillset, and values.
Pause and Discern Before Committing
Taking on a board role is a significant commitment, requiring time, energy, and immense focus. While it offers an avenue to make a strategic impact and remain connected to your industry, success begins with honest self-reflection. Here’s how to approach this:
● Understand Your Motivation: Are you drawn to the intellectual challenge? Seeking a sense of community? Wanting to make a strategic impact?
● Assess Your Bandwidth: Board work often involves monthly/quarterly meetings, committee responsibilities, strategic planning, and events.
Two Retirees and Their Path to Next Season Fulfillment
The importance of pausing and discerning becomes clear in the stories of Jim and Bill, two executives who took very different approaches to their Next Season journeys.
Rediscovering Purpose and Balance
Jim initially embraced retirement by diving into his passion for golf, spending 250 days on the course during his first year away from corporate life. But over time, he began missing the intellectual engagement of being part of the business sphere. When asked by his former company during the financial crisis to rejoin and assist, he quickly accepted. He later realized it was a mistake and disrupted the independence he enjoyed during that first year of retirement. Eventually, he opted for board service, allowing him to contribute his skills while maintaining his independence. With time to reflect early on, Jim might have recognized board work as the better fit, avoiding the detour back to a full-time role.
Bringing Value Beyond the Boardroom
On the other hand, Bill was drawn to continued business affiliation in his next season but disliked long meetings and valued autonomy over his schedule. Recognizing these priorities, he embraced roles as an advisor and arbitrator, where his skills and preferences aligned seamlessly. If Bill hadn’t taken time to pause and reflect, he might have joined a board and remained on an unfulfilling path misaligned with his interests and capacity for commitment.
Types of Boards to Consider
Once you have reflected, the next step is identifying the types of boards that align with your skills and goals. Understanding the landscapes of various board pathways will help you target opportunities suited to your unique expertise.
● Public Company Boards: These roles demand a deep understanding of corporate governance, regulatory compliance, and financial oversight. Compensation is typically significant, but so are the responsibilities and risks.
● Private Company Boards: Focus on helping private businesses grow, governance, and manage strategic goals. These boards may prioritize expertise in areas like business development, operational strategy, or leadership.
● Private Equity Boards: Serve organizations owned or backed by private equity firms. These boards emphasize driving growth, strategy, optimizing efficiency, and preparing companies for sale or IPOs.
● Start-Up Boards: Often require hands-on involvement and strategic guidance. These roles are ideal for individuals with entrepreneurial experience or expertise in scaling businesses.
Consider your Unique Areas of Expertise: Leadership, Technical, and Industry-Tied
Each type of board has its own culture, expectations, and challenges. Choose one that aligns with the skills you have honed throughout your remarkable career, which will make you a tremendous asset to the organization you serve. This strategic approach increases the likelihood of securing a board role and ensures fulfilling and impactful contributions once you do. Skills that leverage well for board work:
● Strategic Thinking: The ability to see the big picture and provide long-term guidance is critical to help organizations navigate complex challenges.
● Financial Acumen: Many boards require proficiency in interpreting financial statements, budgeting, and investment strategies.
● Industry Expertise: Your contributions can be invaluable if you have insights into a specific sector, such as healthcare, technology, or finance.
● Leadership and Governance: Experience in executive roles or managing teams translates well to understanding boardroom dynamics and decision-making.
● Communication and Collaboration: Boards are collective decision-making bodies, so being a strong communicator and team player is essential.
According to the 2024 U.S. Spencer Stuart Board Index, “The ability to navigate uncertainty in a responsive and agile manner is one way to separate the most successful boards from the rest.” As a result, refreshing board composition and skills remains a top priority for organizations navigating the ever evolving and complex economic landscape.
● 2024 Skills Trends for Board Directors: Emerging focus areas include succession planning, diversity, technology-related risk management, people-related issues, and director onboarding, all of which are essential to driving organizational progress.
● Top Industry Backgrounds: In 2024, the top industry backgrounds of new directors spanned technology/telecommunications, industrials/manufacturing, consumer goods and services, and financial services.
Final Considerations
Finding your next chapter in life rarely follows a simple, linear path. Instead, it’s often a process of exploring options, testing them out, talking to others who have gone down similar paths, and refining your ideas as you go.
Don’t rush into board service or accept the first position offered. Assess whether the company or organization aligns with your values and if you’re prepared to dedicate the time required, especially if unprecedented organizational challenges arise. Whether you’re drawn to intellectual stimulation, the chance to build relationships, or the opportunity to create a lasting impact, board service can be a fulfilling way to shape your post-career journey.
By pausing and discerning, you’ll be better equipped to find a board role that enriches your life and the organizations you serve.
Source: Spencer Stuart, 2024 U.S. Spencer Stuart Board Index.