Make the Most of Your Board Interview

Guest Contributor: Emily Green

Emily Green is a board member at Casella Waste Services (NASD: CWST), Lee Kennedy Co, Inc, IRET (NYSE: IRET), and Volta Networks. She is a three-time tech sector CEO with a love for transformational technology and creative teams that deliver profitable tech-enabled services. She has been a member of theBoardlist since 2016, and this is her first guest blog post.

Last year, I interviewed more than a dozen candidates to join a board. All candidates were C-level executives at public companies, not yet on a public board but certainly board-ready. However, concerning and frustratingly, some of the candidates who looked great on paper, and who I knew wanted the opportunity, just didn’t seem to recognize what some of our interview questions were trying to get at. As a result, they didn’t give us the most helpful version of their own truth during the interview.

In an effort to help others and learn from our mistakes, here are some questions our search committee asked during that process, along with the answers that landed flat. For each, I’ve offered an alternative answer that wouldn’t necessarily have over-stepped reality but could have made a more positive impression of the candidate’s suitability (irrelevant details changed to preserve privacy).

Now, I’m not claiming that these are the exact questions that another search committee would ask — although I bet some are — but if you’re vying for your first board gig, I’m hopeful there are some useful lessons here.

#1 What could you bring to our board?

The real question: Have you gotten enough of an idea of what we need, that you can match up things from your experience to point out the fit?

The candidate’s answer: “I’m the Chief Marketing Officer of X, and before that, I was the Chief Revenue Officer of Y.”

The alternative answer: “As I understand it, you’re looking to broaden the board’s assets in marketing and sales. I’ve led several B2B sales teams, with a variety of organizational structures and compensation schemes, and in marketing, I’ve built a dashboard of metrics to apply more science to our spend. And lots more, of course; I think my expertise in both functions is pretty broad. But I’d love to hear more about your needs. What activities in those functions would be most helpful for me to tell you more about?”

The context: We’ve read your resume and our recruitment partner told you what we were looking for, so make the connection directly.

#2 What is the extent of your exposure in your current role to your own company’s board?

The real question: You’re not on a board yet, so how much specifically do you know already about how a board operates, what directors do, what the committees are?

The candidate’s answer: “A bit, but not that much. There’s an annual strategy meeting that the CEO pulls me into, so I prep materials for that and sit in.” Expectant look.

The alternative answer: “My favorite thing to participate in with our board each year is the annual strategy meeting. I work with the CEO and a few of the directors in advance to prepare the session, and I present at the meeting itself. It’s been great to see how the board thinks about strategy, and the approach they take with management. I also support the Y committee from time to time, doing A and B. I also serve on a non-profit board, where I’m on the executive council and have done X, Y, and Z.”

The context: If you know you lack the one thing that most boards want — prior experience — and you’re getting a shot anyway, wouldn’t you look under the sofa cushions, so to speak, for every scrap of relevant exposure that you can offer?

#3 We understand you’re planning to retire at the end of this year. What’s next?

The real question: Will you stay connected to the business world, so you continue to acquire relevant experiences for our company’s management team?

The candidate’s answer: “I plan to tackle some long-postponed projects on the home front, starting with the garage! And, I’m looking forward to working on my golf game.” Chuckle.

The alternative answer: “I’ve learned so much as an executive, I have a lot to give back, and I can’t imagine stopping just because I retire. I’m planning to consult with business owners and provide some leadership at a non-profit. I’m not sure what forms that will take just yet, but I know I’ll be very active.”

The context: A lot of us semi-retired people enjoy golf and puttering in our garages, but that just wasn’t useful here. You should know this fact: Boards value executive expertise, as current as possible. Yet the hardest directors to land on boards are executives currently serving in meaningful full-time roles (since most are limited to serving on only one outside corporate board).

#4 Which of our committees would you be most interested in serving on?

The real question: My fellow interviewer wasn’t really asking about the candidate’s interests; we had a need on one committee in particular, and the director was hoping the candidate would name that one and confirm she had interest and skills to offer it. Maybe he should have made this straightforward by naming the committee, but he didn’t.

The candidate’s answer: “I can’t really offer much to Audit or N&G, so I guess I would be best on the Compensation Committee for now.”

The alternative answer: “I’d be happy to serve on any committee where I can be useful. For Comp, I think my involvement in our new incentive plan would be useful. For Nom & Gov, I could help source other board candidates. And for Audit, I’m interested in enterprise risk management. But let me ask you, where do you most need help? Compensation? Sure, I’d be delighted to help there, and I could also contribute some recent experience with employee engagement surveys and benchmarking equity option programs.”

The context: A lot of a board’s work is done in committee, so you should consider in advance what you could offer to each of the three main committees, as well as any others that this particular board may have. And as with many interview questions, a great approach is to offer a short answer to start, then use a follow-up question to get some cues to let you elaborate effectively.

#5 What do you think your learning curve would be like if you joined our board?

The real question: Are you going to dig in, learn fast, show engagement, and take some responsibility for coming up to speed?

The candidate’s answer: “Oh, not too bad; I think the company is pretty similar to where I am now. [Me: It wasn’t.] And you’ll have an on-boarding program for me, right?”

The alternative answer: “Well, I’m curious, and a voracious reader, and I’m sure there is a lot to learn. I’ve already been through your investor relations website, so I’d probably be asking for past board books, asking to meet leaders in the company, maybe make a few visits to see some operations. And I’d be eager to check in one-on-one with other board members to get feedback on where I still need to add to my understanding. What else should I be thinking about tackling in my first few quarters?”

The context: Confidence can be contagious, for sure, but we didn’t react well to this, since it came across to our ears more as naivete and a lack of ownership.

#6 Our company is 1x (or, 10x) the size of your current company — is this an issue?

The real question: If you’re helping lead a company of 25,000 people, and this company barely has 2,000 employees, would your advice or perspective on our board be misaligned with where we are?

The candidate’s answer: “Well, I think all companies are about the same at the board level, don’t you?”

The alternative answer: “You’re right that there’s a difference in scale between my current company and this firm. But my experience over time has been with organizations of widely varying sizes; when I was the CMO of X, we had very few employees and about $1.93 for a budget. I think I’ve gotten good at adapting my direction for scale. For instance, when I… (example).”

The context: We simply want to hear that you’ve thought about it, you have a plan for it and you have enough experience and expertise to be able to apply to the difference, or at least are hungry to learn from it.

#7 Why do you want to be on a public company board?

The real question: Is this just cash flow for you, or a status thing? Or do you really want to put something into it, and get something out of it?

The candidate’s answer: “It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do.” [Me: But why?]

The alternative answer: “I’ve just learned so much as a CMO/COO/CFO that I hate the idea of wasting it. And frankly I think my work will benefit from time on the other side of the table, so to speak; it can make me better in my day job, helping me help my CEO and my own board.”

The context: We are looking for energy, excitement, passion. We have a lot to do, and we’ve seen do-nothing directors. This question was about our own needs and if you understand that this is a big, time-consuming and serious responsibility.

#8 Why aren’t you already serving on a public company board?

The real question: If you haven’t been tapped already, is it because there’s something we missed in thinking you’re ready for this?

The candidate’s answer: Long pause, then, “Because… no one has asked me yet?”

The alternative answer: “As our COO, I’ve been way too heads-down during our prolonged turnaround / M&A project / digital transformation / whatever to permit myself the distraction. But now my CEO, our board, and I all agree I have the bandwidth to commit to this and have useful things both to offer and to learn. This is the first opportunity that’s emerged since then that seems like a potential fit.” Or even: “I can only do one, so I have to be very selective, and nothing yet has been just right.”

The context: Might have been an attempt at humor, or she might have been put off by the question, as I was. I didn’t like hearing this question from one of my fellow directors in a candidate interview, because I thought it came off a little unfriendly and disrespectful, but nonetheless, it got asked and I would suggest you be prepared to answer it well.

In summary, most of the questions we asked in our search were aimed at uncovering candidate assets or deficits, and we were looking for thoughtful, considered answers. Just because you may have an impressive job doesn’t mean you’ll win the board of directors’ lottery. This is work, and you’ll need to come prepared to show how you will contribute.

So, if you’re looking for a board role and get a chance to interview with current directors, you need to be well-prepared to reframe meaningful operating-side experiences you’ve had as things you can contribute to that board, and then listen hard to what gets asked. Don’t be afraid to ask questions of your own to make sure you’re answering the right things. Keep the conversation focused wherever you can on what you want to do for the board.

Good luck!