How to get your first board role: tips for 2026 & beyond

This piece updates our previous article: 10 Tips For Securing Your First Board Role

How do you get your first board role?

You get your first board role by treating it as a new career rather than a promotion. Decide whether you want a governance role or an advisory one. Pick the type of board you suit. Work out the gap you would fill for that board, and say it in one line. Then tell the chairs, NEDs and headhunters who work on that kind of board, and give it time. The first seat is the hardest. Each one after that comes more easily.

1. Decide whether you want a board seat or a portfolio career

A board role and a portfolio career are different things, and both are worth having. A portfolio career means advising, consulting or operating across several interests, often on shorter projects that play to your strongest skill. A board role is broader. You may still bring a functional spike, but as a director you share responsibility for the whole business: setting strategy, allocating resources, holding the executive team to account and overseeing governance. That brings real influence over the company’s long-term direction. The governance load also grows as the company scales, and in regulated sectors a director’s responsibilities go well beyond an advisor’s.

Before you go further, try what we call the Sunday night test. You’ve had a long day. There’s a 6pm board meeting and a 120-page pack to read before it. Are you still keen? If you’re planning to hold a board role alongside an executive job, that scenario is your reality, and the time it takes often runs well past what you budgeted.

2. Know the difference between an advisor and a NED

An advisor helps with one problem. A non-executive director (NED) is responsible for the whole business. People use the two terms loosely, but boards don’t.

 

Advising is a good way in. A company that needs your fundraising or go-to-market experience now may not need a full NED. Start as an advisor, prove your value, and the seat can follow once you both know the fit is right.

3. Choose your type of board, and know what it pays

Boards range from hands-on to largely hands-off, and the pay changes with them.

Pay varies widely by stage, sector, and geography, which is why we run our own board remuneration survey rather than quote a single figure.

Size matters too. A private, pre-IPO company typically has one to three NEDs, so each has to cover a lot of ground: they want a generalist with a spike. A listed board has six or more, which spreads the load and leaves room for a specialist. Either way, rounded beats single-issue. A NED who can only speak to one topic can only help on one.

4. Think like a chair

Shareholders appoint directors, but the chair usually runs the process and builds the board around strategy first, people second. Jane Reddin of Albion VC, speaking in our earlier piece, Building Your Board As You Scale Your Business, frames each appointment as Reason, Season or Lifetime. Why does the board need someone now? What stage is the company at, and what comes next? How long will it need you?

So stop asking what boards want and ask what this company’s strategy needs. Most board searches are filling one of five gaps:

1. Sector: someone who knows the market
2. Geography: someone who has already expanded where the company is going
3. Function: deep expertise where it hurts, such as AI, technology or marketing
4. Growth: someone who opens doors
5. Exit: someone who has done the deal before

The right NED has usually climbed this mountain before and can see the next range ahead.

Be honest about what makes a good NED

A good NED brings four things: the craft of knowing when to lean in and when to sit on your hands, a working grasp of governance (duties, risk, committees), knowledge that fills the board’s gap, and the qualities of a critical friend. Most first-time candidates are strong on knowledge and lighter on craft and governance.

For the qualities, we use our version of the 5i framework, which many search firms use in some form:

• Intellectual agility: can you get your head round a business fast?
• Independence: will you push back on a CEO?
• Inclination to engage: do you really want to get stuck in?
• Integrity: do you do the right thing when it costs you?
• Interpersonal skills: can you influence without being the boss?

Map your own experience against each one. Where is your proof strong, and where is it thin? The thin spots are what a board will probe.

6. Build your one-line pitch

Unless you’re a former CEOs or CFO, you have to make the case, which means your value proposition has to be sharp. Look at your spikes across five areas: the sectors you’ve really operated in, your functional expertise, the markets you know from the inside, your board exposure (sat on one, worked with one, presented to one) and the soft skills of coaching and mentoring. Some spikes count on every board. Others only count for the right company.

Then write one line for the board you want:

For a [stage] [sector] business that’s [scaling/expanding/heading for exit], I bring [the gap I fill], because I’ve [done it].

For example: “For a Series B fintech going into Europe, I bring regulatory scale-up, because I’ve built it twice.”

Exercise: Spend three minutes listing your spikes and the proof, two minutes writing your line, and five minutes reading it to a trusted friend or colleague. Ask them to tell you what they heard.

7. Borrow other people’s words

If you hate blowing your own trumpet, don’t. Ask three people who know your work three questions: what do I bring, where do I add most, and how do I come across? Keep their words and use them. It feels authentic, and to a chair or headhunter it sounds like a reference rather than a sales pitch.

8. Choose your way in

There are four main routes to a first board seat:

1. Your network. A chair who rates you puts your name forward.
2. Advise first. Prove yourself, then take the seat.
3. Headhunters. Board practices, specialist firms and online platforms all play a part. Know which fit you.
4. Wider searches. Briefs focused on diversity, geography or a specialist skill are often where first-timers get their opening.

On headhunters, be selective. There’s a firm for almost every type of board, and you’ll get further with three relevant conversations than fifteen random ones. Some firms focus on FTSE 100 boards, others on the FTSE 250. At Erevena, we work mainly with VC- and PE-backed companies that are scaling to their next stage. Find the three firms that work on your kind of board.

And plan for time. It can take several years from the first conversation to the first seat. If you think you’ll want a board career later, start laying the groundwork now.

9. Make it easy to bet on you

A board taking on a first-time NED is taking a risk. Your job is to shrink it.

1. Show your board miles. Time spent presenting to a board, sitting on a charity board or serving as a school governor all count.
2. Tell people, out loud. Surprisingly few people say they want a board role, which leaves headhunters guessing who is ready. Tell the chairs and NEDs who know your work, and ask them to introduce you to the recruiters they use.
3. Be referenceable. Have someone who will say “they’re ready”.
4. Be findable. Spell out the board, the seat and the gap you fill, on LinkedIn and anywhere else people look.
5. Get some help. If your gap is knowledge, take a course, such as those run by the FT or the IoD. They teach governance, suit public boards and take real time. If your gap is positioning, work with a NED coach. A session or two will sharpen your pitch and CV and draw out your best stories, and it costs less.

10. Play the long game, and watch how AI is changing it

A board career compounds. The first seat is the hardest to land. Once you have one or two, you become identifiable, and the next roles come more easily. Think of it as putting your first foot on a new ladder.

AI is changing the shape of that ladder. Board agendas move faster, and experience dates faster with them. Boards will look different as a result, and people who are operating now are in demand. Our 2023 Board Remuneration Survey, based on 426 responses from chairs and NEDs across the UK and Europe, found that the share of NEDs holding three or more roles fell from 58% to 41% between 2021 and 2023, while more serving executives joined boards. We expect that shift to continue.

The rules haven’t changed, though: a new ladder, a new network and a sharp pitch.

Three things to do next

• This week: ask three people what you bring, and keep their words.
• This month: have one coffee with a chair or NED who rates you, and tell them what you’re looking for.
• Before you start searching: pick the three headhunters who work on your kind of board.
Follow Erevena on LinkedIn for more of our insights.

FAQs

What is the difference between a non-executive director and an advisor?

A non-executive director sits on the board, governs the whole business for a set term, and carries legal liability. An advisor helps with a specific problem, has no governance role, and isn’t legally on the hook in the same way.

Do non-executive directors get paid?

Most do, but it depends on the board. Listed companies pay cash and committee fees. PE-backed companies usually pay cash plus equity, unless you’re an independent NED. VC-backed roles pay some cash but are mainly about equity. Charity trustees are usually unpaid.

Can I be a NED while working full-time?

Yes, and boards increasingly want serving operators. Our 2023 survey found more serving executives joining boards. Be realistic about the time: board work often runs well past what you budget, usually outside working hours. Be sure to review your contract to see if you’re legally allowed to be a NED, and if so, disclose to your current employer.

How long does it take to get your first board role?

It can take several years from your first conversation to your first seat. The first is the hardest. After one or two, further roles tend to come more easily because you’re identifiable as a NED.

Do I need a qualification to become a NED?

No, but it can help. A governance course from a body such as the IoD or the FT fills knowledge gaps and suits candidates aiming for public boards. A NED coach helps more if your gap is how you position yourself.

How do I find non-executive director roles?

Through your network, by advising first, through headhunters and board practices, and through searches with a diversity, geographic, or specialist brief. Focus on the three headhunters who work on the type of board you want.