Continue to build your executive experience rather than rushing to take on NED roles that don’t always offer the flexibility you need and in many cases, aren’t as readily available as you think.
This is the advice of Korn Ferry Executive Chairman, Katie Lahey.
Lahey explains that she often sees women who leave their executive lives too early. This reduces their chances of getting a NED role as they are interrupting their key selling point, their experience and wisdom from their executive lives.
“Female NEDs responding to a recent Korn Ferry survey that examined their pathways to boards, advised aspiring female NEDs to develop their executive career with an eye on their board career. They encouraged them to be aggressive in advancing to a line role and not to shift out of management too early.”
Lahey stated that when speaking to chairs about potential female NED candidates they often ask me, “Has she run something?”
Work longer and rush slowly into prime board roles, AFR, 10 September 2014
