Want to join a Board? Four tips from Yale’s Women on Boards program

Double luck. The last time I had visited Yale University more than two years ago, my son and I had perfect timing to be part of the final tour group before the pandemic shut down the campus.

This time, when I stepped into Yale’s School of Management, I was not here for my son’s college tours. I was fortunate that leaders at Mars Incorporated had sponsored me for Yale’s Women on Boards program. After years of serving on nonprofit boards, I was excited to deepen my Boardroom knowledge, and have Yale confirm that I was Board-ready to substantively contribute to corporate boards. Over the week, there were many lessons. You’ll hear more below about four salient ones:

1. Boards value diversity

2. Boards’ critical skills are evolving

3. Boards require healthy skepticism

4. It’s all about our contributions

Let me first set the stage. We began on Sunday by meeting the twenty-eight executives that made up the 2022 cohort (including some who joined virtually). Then, during the introductory day of classroom instruction, we bonded over a classic marketing case study, the Pepsi challenge. We cheered as one of our classmates, Monique, accomplished what no other student had ever managed: to distinguish Coke from Pepsi (and Diet from regular!)

But our effervescence was not limited to carbonated beverages. Throughout the five days, the program affirmed the governance role of boards, how Boards guide and complement the work of management teams, and the power of strategic, open-ended questions. Sitting in our semicircle of classroom seats, we also grew to appreciate our diverse points of view. The room was filled with wisdom from decades of experience. Our industries ranged from medicine, education, public radio, wealth management, private equity, insurance, nonprofits, packaged goods, technology and more, with functional expertise in marketing, finance, Human Resources, digital, sustainability, experience design, to name just a few. I was proud to add perspectives from my Consumer Goods careers in marketing, strategy, and digital transformation, among other experiences.

Soon enough, we formed a community. Add to this heady concoction some of Yale’s best faculty, led by Professor Sonnenfeld and introduced to us by Executive Director Kavitha Bindra, plus external speakers and surprise guests, and the result was an unforgettable week.

While some of the topics echoed my business and MBA experience, it was the Boardroom lens that made them unique. For instance, we debated strategy, dove into financials, and covered emerging areas like digital, cybersecurity and ESG from a Board perspective.

Let’s dive deeper into four of the most memorable insights…

BOARDS VALUE DIVERSITY

Recruiters from some renowned agencies — Julie Daum from Spencer Stuart, Dede Orraca-Cecil from Egon Zehnder, Janice Ellig from Ellig Group — shared recent statistics. They’re seeing only about 8% turnover on corporate boards. However, in 2021, many companies expanded the number of independent director seats to improve diversity on Boards.

Julie said that last year, 70% of new Board seats were filled by women or people of color. With excitement, she shared “For the first time ever, every S&P 500 company has at least one woman on its board!” This is critical because research has shown that better performance is linked with more diversity.

BOARDS’ CRITICAL SKILLS ARE EVOLVING

Still, board seats are competitive. Boards are usually seeking specific skillsets and the ability to fit with the board’s culture.

Classic skills of finance and legal are needed, especially for the standard subcommittees: audit, compensation, nominating/governance. Strategy and marketing capabilities can be useful for the board’s role, as classmate Nicole Parente-Lopez says, “to recognize threats and opportunities.”

More and more, though, boards are acknowledging the need for digital/ecommerce, cybersecurity, and ESG understanding. Board members don’t necessarily need depth of expertise in all these areas but rather the ability to formulate critical open-ended questions that unlock thinking. After all, boards aren’t managing the organization, they’re helping to govern it. Nicole articulates this delicate balance, “Board members need to zoom in to understand, then zoom out to guide.”

BOARDS REQUIRE HEALTHY SKEPTICISM

Some of our meatiest deep dives arose from cautionary tales. We studied real-life cases of fraud, one where Indian tech company Satyam was caught when it tried to diversify into real-estate. The odd move raised suspicions, and the CEO ended up confessing that he’d falsified earnings for years, thinking he’d catch up. Instead, the amount grew to an astronomical gap that he could no longer hide. He wrote to his Board of Directors “It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten.”

The gob smacking truth was that the auditors knew about the deception and signed off on the false reports. What are the lessons for Board members? Harbor a healthy degree of skepticism, question everything, and as fellow cohort member Diane Weiss says, “be prepared to audit the auditors.”

IT’S ALL ABOUT OUR CONTRIBUTIONS

This one article can’t cover a whole week’s worth of material. But the array of topics was breathtaking. The program’s founder, Lisa Kammert, led a fascinating panel of previous graduates speaking about their current Board experiences. We covered legalities (hint: make sure to ask about Directors & Officers insurance), executive presence, negotiations, creativity, cyber risks, how to craft a Board bio, and paths to securing a Board role (of note, Patti Russo, Executive Director of The Campaign School at Yale, points out that networking is a great way to find Board seats).

On the final morning, full of inspiration and newfound friendships, we sipped coffee and absorbed Professor Sonnenfeld’s excitement as he introduced our surprise guest speaker. Before we knew it, PepsiCo’s ex-CEO Indra Nooyi appeared on screen. For twenty+ spellbinding minutes, she shared her philosophy on talent, teams, and respect. Professor Sonnenfeld turned to me to ask the final question. I strove to gain insight that would be valuable for all 28 hearts and minds in our cohort and asked, “We’re all here to contribute to boards. What advice would you share as we seek to make an impact at the Board level?” Indra stayed beyond even her allotted time, keeping another Board commitment waiting, to fully respond. She spoke eloquently about selecting our boards strategically. Then she laid out her personal approach. She said that she likes to seek three boards with divergent roles:

1. First and foremost, if you can only serve on one board, seek one where you can truly contribute

2. Then, find one where in addition to contributing, you can also learn

3. Lastly, you can really stretch yourself by joining a board where you know nothing about the area

We left her session, and the program, filled with hope for places we can contribute, anticipation for the lessons we can learn, and humility to know there are many places where we still know nothing about the topic.

*Many thanks to friends and colleagues who read drafts and provided input to shape this article, including Michelle, Liz, Diane, Nicole, Monique, Patti, Pamela, Mary, Renee and more!