Directors cheer

Those who have fought the fight share their tips for getting into that boardroom.
The importance of embracing failure and learning from it and choosing to work in areas you care about were among the top tips given to aspiring women directors in Auckland last month.
More than 120 people, some already on boards and others on the pathway there, attended the hands-on, practical workshop “Women on Boards: Getting Ahead”. The workshop was organised by A Place at the Table, a joint initiative by the EEO Trust and the Human Rights Commission encouraging greater boardroom diversity, in conjunction with Australian advocacy organisation Women on Boards.
The stars of the show were Denise Aldous, an Australia-based Kiwi recently appointed to the board of the beleaguered Cronulla Sharks; BNZ director Susan Macken; Robyn Galloway, a Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce board member; and Australians Fiona Shand, an expert on directors’ legal responsibilities, and Ruth Medd, the chair of Women on Boards. 
Susan Macken
Susan Macken, who has six current directorships, among them BNZ and Treasury, urged women to "love your failures. I've learnt more from my failures than my successes.”
Although she now has a doctorate in economics from Cambridge, Susan confessed she flunked her third year of university thanks to her social life. She hasn’t always landed the roles and directorships she wanted – “it’s a very competitive market” – and business relationships have not always gone as desired.” But, she added, “failures … are one of the keys to my success”.
Susan said that good directors are in touch with “the truth about yourself. We are not good at everything. Knowing what those things are gives you an opportunity to do something about them. Wandering around thinking you are better than you are isn’t helpful to you or your colleagues. Take opportunities to get feedback.”
Susan also urged women to embrace lifelong learning – for her, the current challenge is digital technology. “Get a good friend to accost you from time to time and say: What have you learnt since I last met you? If you’re not learning, you’re not being the best you can be, and must be.”
Denise Aldous
Denise Aldous said she often gets asked what “possessed” her last year to join the board of the Cronulla Sharks rugby league club, which has been beset by poor financial performance and player scandals. The answer is simple: sport has been part of her life for a long time, and she believes that to be an effective director, you have to work in a field that genuinely interests you.
Denise said she learned as a young banker in male-dominated offices that going out drinking with the boys “was not a good look” and she was “no good at golf”. But she found that sport chat – initially cricket, in her case – “became the one thing that gave me neutral entry point into the male mind”.
Denise, who became one of two women on the nine-member board in mid-2009, advised that women target boards of interest – that’s what she did with the Sharks, as she could see how female input could help the club back on track. “For me it was pretty clear. Apart from being passionate about sport, it [the issue for me about the Sharks] was the poor role models for kids. Emails I had from women … were saying: we don’t want them [the Sharks] to be angels, but our kids idolise them and this behaviour is appalling …
“My modus operandi is always to target the board and target the chair. I managed to get connected to the new chairman of the board, (Damian Irvine) and I liked what I saw – he was open, honest, and told it as it was.”
Denise also calls things as she sees them. At one meeting, she heard that the club had an end-of-season tradition called Mad Monday “where the blokes let hair down and get drunk: I looked at them – unfortunately I have a habit of looking down my glasses, which doesn’t help, and said – well, that’s not happening then, is it?
“The guys on the board, to their credit, had also woken up to that. But the point was that someone needed to ask the question, and often it doesn’t happen. I think when you come with different perspectives to a receptive board, like the Sharks board, they are prepared to listen.”
Although the workload involved in turning the Sharks around is “huge”, Denise said it’s a lot of fun. “And I would encourage women with a passion for sport to … promote yourself to get on some of these boards. Sport is so important to the community in both Australia and New Zealand, and the perspective of women on these boards is critical.”
But she warned that “directing is a job like any other and needs to been taken seriously. And you have to realise that it’s incredibly competitive; for every women wanting a board role, there are probably 20 men or more. There are hundreds of applicants for each board role.”
Robyn Galloway
Robyn Galloway is managing director of her own business, Christchurch wholesale travel company Innovative Travel, and recently became one of two women on the 12-member Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce Board.
She said that women shouldn’t underestimate the value of an SME background in board life. “Every company, small or large, has the same goals: you want to make a profit, have good strategies, and you have to adapt and move with the times.”
Robyn said self-doubt is not an unusual experience when thinking about standing for a first board post, “but we can’t let a lack of confidence or experience hold us back from taking on that challenge. Put your name forward and go for it.” And keep up the meeting and greeting to build your profile and contacts: “Networking is critical – you have to have networks in place”.
Fiona Shand
Australian lawyer Fiona Shand described many boards around the world as overwhelmingly “pale, male and stale” and said that “testosterone-fuelled risk-taking” fuelled the global financial crisis. “But it’s not about men being wrong – it’s about women bringing something different to the table and a better discussion,” she said. “I challenge you to talk to the influencers – talk to the men. It’s about them being adopters of change as well.”
Fiona said that there is no shortage of appropriately-qualified female talent. However, she warns women board hopefuls to do their homework on a prospective board post and to be aware of the risks. "You bring your skills, expertise, experience and reputation to a board and you can lose your reputation in a minute. You need to identify, minimise and manage the risks."