I receive a lot of outreach from people in their 20’s and 30’s who are ambitious and want to be on boards. They ask me, “How can I prepare to be on corporate boards right now, so I am an attractive candidate in the future?” and “What skills or experience can I obtain now, to ensure I sit on a board in my 40’s or 50’s…  

Here is the advice I share with young professionals:

Build Networks

Start building networks now. Go outside of your industry, find people who energize you and who are also ambitious. Spend time with them. Create a strong network of influential people that you like. Get out of your house or apartment and socialize! And you are the product of the 5 people you spend time with.

Leadership Roles

In your current job, work to move into a leadership position that will provide you with experience managing people, making tough decisions and dealing with business crises. The more involved you are with decision making and the more experience you have on the front line of business, the better.

General Business Experience

I recommend you seek to oversee more broad divisions and departments. For people at smaller companies this may be easier than at a large company. However, find a way to get involved; either ask to join meetings about the latest M&A transaction, or listen in on a shareholder quarterly call.

Serve on Nonprofit boards

This is one of the easiest ways to start building board governance experience at young age. I strongly recommend people in their 20’s and 30’s consider their local community boards, professional associations or industry associations. Start volunteering and check out some of my other content about how to evaluate the right nonprofit board…

Attributes

The 10 attributes of highly effective board members are here. Make sure to read these and develop all of them in your job, and outside of your job too. You will definitely develop them on a nonprofit board, which is another good reason to spend some time doing that at an early age.

Get involved with your company’s board

The more experience you can gain working with board members, preparing reports and presentations for board meetings, the better. This experience is essential as you grow in your career.  Perhaps you are too junior to do right now, however, even if you start to help your boss with the reports and take the time to read the notes, you will start to see what information board members receive and you will start to build your experience. And who knows, if you get involved in board-level work they may invite you into the boardroom one day!

Advice shared from Board Director, William “Bill” Jones on my podcast in June was “start early” and “never run away from a challenge – run to it!”. Don’t wait until you are in retirement to get on a board.

Getting onto a board can take time, so start early and start young. Set a goal to be on a corporate board in your 40’s or 50’s and don’t lose sight of it!