#026: How to Secure 18 Board Roles in 20 Years, with Julie Garland McLellan
In the (not-so) good ‘ol days, you had to be a CEO to land a board seat. It didn’t matter that executives slightly lower on the corporate totem pole were eminently qualified to sit on a board and provide much-needed skills. Fortunately, in today’s fast-changing world, that old-school CEO-only model for serving on boards is extinct. Nowadays, good directors are coming from outside the traditional C-suite. Appealing board candidates are now those who have served as president of a university, or who hold a leadership position within the federal government, or who have worked as an entrepreneur in a privately-owned company. These types of people bring richness to a board, and these types of places are good recruiting grounds for directors. It's from this diverse background that today’s podcast guest, Julie Garland McLellan emerged. Julie’s path to the boardroom was atypical (at the time): Desire Earned qualification Non-profit board Government entity board Private company board Public company board Since then Julie has sat on close to 20 boards. Now she teaches boardroom best practices and coaches other to land a board role. On today’s episode, Julie shares her experience of how she joined her first board by accident and went on to build a successful and diverse portfolio of non-executive positions. She’ll talk us through her framework about where to start: Skills (What) Values (Why) Behaviors (How) I challenge you not to be inspired by today’s episode! Julie gives her top tips on how you could focus your efforts if you have boardroom aspirations of your own. Click here to listen now! Let's Get Social! I absolutely love connecting with listeners on social media. Right now, I'm hooked on Instagram. And yes, I do personally post and respond on my accounts! This is a great way to hear my latest thinking, get the inside track on new products, and even seen a few pictures of my toddler. Connect with me on @alexander.s.lowry. Resources Mentioned in This Episode Director's Dilemma newsletter Book: The Brand You Book: Not-For-Profit Board Dilemmas Book: Dilemmas, Dilemmas: Practical Case Studies for Company Directors Book: Presenting to Boards