Much has been written on the topic of personal branding since Tom Peters wrote the “The Brand Called You”. We all have a personal brand, whether we have created it consciously or unconsciously.

The boardroom is a privileged place where entrance is granted (ideally) only to exceptional individuals who have value to add. If you aspire to increase your board impact, then you will need to understand your personal brand and, possibly, work on enhancing aspects of it.

The questions below provide comprehensive coverage across:

  • Understanding your current brand
  • Enhancing your brand
  • Extending your brand to people who don’t know you
  • Social media and third-party endorsement
  • Retaining brand currency

The questions are designed to start you thinking about issues that you may encounter. Your answers are not necessarily good or bad; they should reflect the current and desired state of your personal reputation and relationships with the people who can influence your ability to succeed.

Trust yourself to recognise the most important questions to help you maximise progress and build a valuable director brand.

At the end of the checklist, we have listed some references that you may wish to investigate for additional reading on the topic. We have also included some suggestions for putting into action the ideas that result from considering the checklist.

Understanding your current brand

1. Can you describe what makes you a good director in 15 words or less? Do you believe it when you say it?
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2. What makes you different from your boardroom colleagues and other aspiring directors? What is the value of that difference for the boards and companies that you join?
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3. What are the qualities, characteristics, experiences, skills, and habits that make you unique? Which differences are most highly prized by each of the people you work with?
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4. What would your board colleagues say about you if someone asked what you were like as a board colleague? Can you find someone to ask them that question so that you can verify your answer?
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5. We can often see behaviours but rarely see intentions. Why do you want to be on boards? What is your vision or purpose? How well is that understood by people around you? How can you make it more well-known?
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Enhancing your brand

6. What do you want to be known for? Why would that be valuable for a board? If what you want to be known for is not what your network is saying about you, what actions can you take to make people more aware of the value you can offer?
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7. How confident are you in talking about your unique and valuable ability to enhance a board? What do you need to do to increase your confidence?
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8. What credentials are valued by the people on your current boards and those on the boards you aspire to join? What do you need to do to gain those credentials?
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9. What experiences do you lack or wish to increase in order to add more value to your boards? Can you gain that experience by volunteering or helping others?
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10. If your feedback is not what you aspire to have as your brand, have you attempted a process of ‘feed-forward’?
 
1 Did it work or is it working? What behaviours or competencies do you want your colleagues to watch out for and report back to you? Can you reliably demonstrate these?
 
2
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11. How do you help the boards you are on? How do you help your board colleagues to succeed? Who else do you help? What tangible evidence can you gather to prove this?
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Extending your brand to people who don’t know you

12. What companies, organisations, and people are reasonably natural extensions of your current network? Can you ask people who know you to provide introductions to those that don’t yet know you? Do you have a topic of conversation or area of mutual interest to make the introduction an easy and pleasant task for the mutual acquaintance?
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13. Who are the current and recent past directors on the boards that you aspire to join? Do you have a list of names that will prompt you to reach out if you meet them in the course of your current endeavours?
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14. What organisations are they members of? What events do they attend? How can you become part of their circle of acquaintances?
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15. What projects are they or their companies engaged in that you are interested in? Can you ask how these projects are going? Can you provide a useful connection or reference some useful information that your desired connection may appreciate?
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16. If someone does engage with you on a topic of mutual interest, can you reach out to them and thank them for the conversation? Can you source some additional information to share with them? Would you feel comfortable continuing the conversation? If not, what do you need to do or learn to gain the required comfort?
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17. Can you be sure that your new interactions are valuable for the people you meet? What do you need to do to help them recognise the value you have given them?
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Social media and third-party endorsement

18. Does your CV succinctly summarise the value you add and your skills and experiences? Do you need help to improve it? Can you ask an impartial person to give you frank feedback on how your CV is perceived? Does your CV show a progression that makes your targeted boards look like a logical next step? Do you need to make any intermediate steps before approaching your desired boards?
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19. Do all your social media pages contain current correct information about your professional value? Do you need help to enhance your pages?
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20. Think back to your list of people who are on, or have recently been on, the boards you aspire to join. Can you find these people on social media? Can you set notifications so that you see their posts or comments promptly after they are issued?
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21. When someone you are interested to develop a relationship with posts can you add value by liking or commenting on their post? People will come to recognise those who frequently join their online conversations just as they will recognise people whom they meet in real life. Do your comments encourage others to contribute or reinforce your positive value add?
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22. Who are the respected voices that your targeted connections will listen to? Whose content do they follow or comment upon? Can you also follow and comment?
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23. What publications are valued by your targeted connections? Can you contribute to these publications?
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24. What institutions do your targeted connections respect and/or belong to? Can you become a member or a contributor to these institutions?
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25. When you look at your whole program of activities, on- and off-line, is there a clear unifying thread that will give people reason to believe they can know and trust you?
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Retaining brand currency

26. Boards operate in a continuously evolving environment. What do you need to learn to retain currency? What can you learn that will position you to be an emerging expert in a topic of increasing importance for the boards you aspire to join?
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27. What are the current areas of developing legal precedent in your chosen fields? How are you ensuring that you stay abreast of the developing regulatory and legal frameworks? How can you apply that knowledge in practice? How can you help to develop the law or regulation? Is there any volunteer role or consultation that you can undertake to gain exposure while adding value and gaining skills?
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28. How can you demonstrate that you have the ability to keep learning and improving? How does that ability get recognised by people around you?
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Taking action

Read the questions and note which ones you can confidently answer. Make a record of any actions that you wish to take to help answer any questions that you were not confident about.

There are no right or wrong answers to these questions. However, there are some that will make you think and that may merit either a quiet discussion with your professional mentor, chair and/or colleagues. Ultimately, each director must make his or her own decisions about how they wish to be perceived and what they will do to achieve the recognition they need to enable the success they desire.

As your career develops you may need to review and redesign your personal brand to better align with your evolving aspirations and the opportunities that life presents. Return to the questions to ensure that you are considering your current needs and planning appropriately for the future.

Additional reading and reference sources

Dilemmas, Dilemmas, Practical Case Studies for Company Directors, J Garland McLellan, Great Governance Press, 2016

What got you here won’t get you there by Malcolm Gladwell, Hyperion Books, 2007

Becoming a boardroom star by Beverley Behan,

Elevate your Success by David Coe, Author Express, 2016

Credibility by Barry Posner and Jim Kouzes, Jossey-Bass, 2003

Put Yourself Out There by Jane Anderson, 2021

How to Persuade by Michelle Bowden, Wiley, 2022