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½Û×ÓÊÓƵ’s in-house Senior Counsel session in October featured KPMG qualified Fellow Chartered Accountant Jerry Harris, CEO of Dynamic Boards Sarah Pierman, and property and finance markets expert Martin Gunson, all sharing their insights on key skills and practical tips on becoming and excelling as a Non-Executive Director.

A CEO’s friend

A Non-Executive Director is a CEO’s friend. Jerry Harris explained how his role enabled him to become an independent person/ mentor for CEOs to talk to and seek advice from.

Jerry came to the world of board directorship with ten years’ experience at KPMG, and corporate experience from London to Sydney. His personal journey as a NED started around fifteen years ago, starting with one day a month and then into a full day working week role. Jerry’s NED positions have allowed him to give advice on payroll systems, office moves, CRM systems, large business development projects and ESG reporting. He cites his previous experience as the reason why he was able to develop these skills and advise CEOs on such a broad range of decisions.

A new wave of opportunities

The best way to become a NED is, of course, to figure out the type of company you’d like to be on the board of. You must have a genuine interest in improving the business you’re joining and have realistic expectations of the type of board you’d like to join. Use your network to talk to those already on boards and search for firms, head-hunters through LinkedIn and board recruiters such as Dynamic Boards.

Sarah Pierman, CEO of Dynamic Boards spoke about how anyone with an ‘epic mix of skills’ and experience is welcome to apply. There’s no such thing as not being ‘senior enough’ for a NED role. Sarah herself joined a bank’s board at the age of 29 and said that while the focus on women in improving diversity is great, factors such as age are often overlooked, which is why people from younger age groups should apply for board roles to bring a fresh perspective. Although historically, NED’s were ex-CEOs and those with years of experience, the market now looks for a mix of experience.

Sarah launched Dynamic Boards after noting that NEDs often had a generally unwelcome and exclusive image. Dynamic Boards now has , ranging from NHS Trusts to private companies.

Think beyond the law

Jerry notes that only a handful of FTSE 100 companies have lawyers as NEDs. In the UK, lawyers are seen to be those with legal expertise but not business/commercial skills. In Germany and the US, however, more than 50% of DAX 40 firms and Fortune 100 companies have lawyers on their boards.

For more facts on lawyers on boards, you can read this on the Oxford Business Law Blog by Jeffery Tan.

This is why Jerry says that it is important to downplay your identity as a lawyer (which, he notes, is, of course, hard given the hard work to get to that qualification) and emphasise your actual skills, your commercial awareness, your knowledge of how businesses run and your financial knowledge. You must show that you have knowledge beyond the world of law.

Property and finance markets expert, Martin Gunson, said that while firms don’t require legal advice from NEDs, they do welcome a legal perspective. He noted how his experience as general counsel focusing on property and finance markets allowed him to understand what organisations needed to run efficiently. The contacts he had built as a lawyer valued his commercial perspective and eventually came to him for advice as a NED.

For tips on what to write in your CV/ cover letter for a board role, see Dynamic Board’s guidance here.

‘Nose in, hands out’

Ultimately, a NED is an adviser. You are there not to ‘do’, but to ‘think’. Sarah uses the phrase ‘nose in, hands out’ as the best way to describe the role of a NED.

Jerry, Sarah and Martin all emphasise the ability to use your skills to make actual change in organisations, plan the role around your life and your current role, and bring a new perspective to a company as the reasons to become a NED.

For more on NEDs, please see on YouTube.