Suzanne’s words of wisdom: BE YOUR AUTHENTIC SELF
MWi’s January program guest speaker: Suzanne M. Burns
Suzanne shared her expertise in board-level placements including how qualified candidates learn about and secure interviews for a board position, factors executives should expect when planning their board career, skill sets boards are currently looking for, and trends in board placements and governance.
Suzanne is a trusted advisor to numerous public and private company CEOs and Boards. An expert on Board best practices, CEO succession planning, organizational and cultural alignment, and attracting developing diverse talent to drive shareholder value. Suzanne spends 50 percent of her time on Board work. She is focused and personally committed to gender, race, and other forms of diversity.
Suzanne is a member of Spencer Stuart’s Board, CEO, Industrial, Private Equity, and Digital Transformation practices.
The link to the recording is below.
Suzanne Burns 1.20.21
A few of the topics Suzanne addressed:
- What the board journey look like earlier in your career, later in your career
- Advice on choosing a non-profit board
- How to secure the first for-profit board position and considerations
- The different types of boards to consider; where should you start your selection process
- How to know when you ready to switch to a for-profit board; what to consider
- What to look for before joining a board; reasons for not accepting a board opportunity
- Importance of your Board bio/CV
- Preparing yourself to be a great candidate
- How the due diligence vetting process look from the board and candidate perspective
- Percentage of organizations go through a search firm
- How Spencer Stuart find qualified candidates
- How board compensation determined
”You get to a certain point in your career, and you don’t want to pretend to be anyone but who you are . . . show up in the way you want to be known as, that is how we are going make progress on this front. The longer we (women) pretend to be someone we are not, that will be the expectation. We have to change that expectation.” – Suzanne Burns
About SpencerStuart
Spencer Stuart has 60 years’ experience in leadership consulting. Founded in Chicago, the firm has over 50 offices around the world. Spencer Stuart is more than an executive and board search firm, offering leadership and board advisory assessment services.
With a dedicated board search practice, the firm fills approximately 65 percent of the world’s board director roles, from small family-owned businesses to Fortune 50 companies.