My First Board Experience: From Confusion to Confidence

By Darren Rawson

Darren Rawson is the chair of five private companies including AltaML and Chandos Construction. He’s a former CEO of three different private companies and has done business internationally for over 25 years in numerous industry sectors.

I remember getting invited to sit on my first board. It was an impact not-for-profit organization. As a young executive I felt like I belonged and that I was a fantastic choice. I was going to make such an impact on the organization. In fact I was going to change the world.

I also had no idea what I was doing.

Feeling Like an Imposter

Within minutes of the first meeting I was wondering what I had done. The language in the boardroom was completely foreign to me—motions, seconds, points of order, resolutions. I had no appreciation for the finances or strategy of this new organization. I may have looked confident on the exterior, but deep down I was intimidated and scared to make a comment. I was a complete imposter. The confident executive was replaced with an apprentice hoping not to look out of place.

I have since realized this is not a unique experience. As I talked about in this article, many boards operate as a cost of doing business or a mere formality rather than a strategic asset, which is a missed opportunity. Done right, a high-performing board can be transformative for an organization, driving meaningful impact and long-term success.

Learning the Hard Way

Fortunately I did not quit, I persevered. I quickly learned the language of the boardroom. I invested time understanding the business including the business model, strategy and financial position. I started asking questions and making comments on the strategy and tactics. I leaned in. I started to volunteer to join committees and I took on responsibilities. That is what good leaders do, right?

In my third board meeting I seconded my first motion. It was such a big day for me—I had arrived. Yet it did not get easier. Even as my confidence grew, I made mistakes. I got motions wrong and was often corrected by tenured directors happy to point out the errors of my ways. I was so focussed on becoming an expert and learning the “rules” that I forgot the bigger picture: serving the organization.

Looking back, I realize I wasn’t very effective in my early days. I was approaching the boardroom like an executive, trying to do the work instead of fulfilling my role as a director.

Yet this is the experience for virtually every new director.

Understanding the Role of a Director

In business, great individual contributors do not always make great managers. In sports, great athletes do not always make great coaches. The roles are different. The same is true with a board.

A professional or executive is a doer – managing projects, making decisions, and setting direction. Great professionals think linearly and are biased to action.

Being a director is completely different than being a professional or executive. A director is a steward of the organization, acting as an agent for the shareholders or members to ensure the organization is successful. They are thinkers more than doers. They think more laterally than linearly, always testing the strategy and assessing risks. 

We train for decades to be a professional or executive, is it not reasonable to think it would take a similar amount of time to become a director?

Fortunately my first board experience did not dissuade me from my path. I carry my early board experiences with me and reflect on them often.

The Turning Point

Fairly early on a friend suggested I consider director training. At first I discounted this idea… I was an executive, I had been in board meetings and I had learned the processes. Why would I need basic training?

Fortunately I signed up for director training. What a great decision. While I knew most of the concepts, the material was packaged in a way that helped me to properly frame the role of the board and the role of the director. 

I was able to apply this knowledge in future board meetings. I changed my approach to the work as a director. I also started to identify gaps of knowledge that exist in many boards and with many directors.

Most boards have significant opportunities for improvement. We are essentially training new directors in boards that are not as effective as they could be, which perpetuates the challenge.

I use this as a motivating factor.

A Message for Directors

If you are an early stage director, don’t be discouraged. Embrace that you don’t know what you don’t know. It’s okay to feel like you don’t know everything—you probably don’t! Get educated and apply your learnings. Learn from talented directors. Every board is different, so don’t assume one experience defines them all. 

If you are an experienced director, reflect on your early director experiences and use them to mentor and support new directors. Continue to be curious.

At Ozone, we believe every board and every director can be better. This applies to ourselves. By embracing continuous improvement, we can make a stronger impact on our boards and on the organizations we serve.

Are you ready to elevate your skills as a director and make a bigger impact? The High-Performing Board Program offers the tools and guidance to help you become a confident, high-impact leader in the boardroom.