What Do You Do When a Board Seat Beckons?

It may simply be that time of year but I’m being “soft vetted” for board of director / board of trustee seats.

And whether the board seat is for an organization that is for-profit or for non-profit, there are things some things that anyone – you, me, or anybody else – should do.

Soft vetting is remeniscient of grade school (“If you did have a crush on someone in class who would it be?Read the rest

(More) Risky Business: How to Leap Tall Buildings

Sometimes the greatest risk you can take is to take no risk at all.

Or as James Dean phrased it, “Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today.”

Three events this week brought that thought squarely home.

  1. A colleague who was nudged out of his role with a firm asked for more separation pay than the organization indicated it customarily offered.
Read the rest

[CFO Job Hunters Version] What Do Employers Really Want?

One mystery for more senior job hunters is the  question of “What do employers really want?” in terms of backgrounds, skill sets and experience.

Thanks to one executive search person you can get one good answer – particularly if you’re looking fill a Chief Financial Officer role.

Karen Quint of Spencer Stuart addressed the San Francisco chapter of Financial Executives International,  the preeminent association for CFOs and other senior finance executives last month.Read the rest

Can You Trust the Recruiter?

The voice at the other end of the voicemail sounded sincere and the message they left earlier about the possible job sounds great. But is too good to be true just that: too good to be true?

And can you trust the recruiter who left the message?

The short answer is “maybe”. And here’s more.

I spend my work life coaching people and teams to up their performance game, and one of ways to enhance performance is to improve the ability anticipate what’s coming down the pike.Read the rest