Non Executive Directors

Non Executive Directors

It seems as if most senior Executives becoming independent/ going plural fancy having one or more NED appointments as part of what they do.

For many new to it, the NED market is unstructured, invariably difficult and, for those short on perseverance, unsatisfactory.  It is characterised by a virtually inexhaustible supply of candidates, a patchy and often invisible and variable demand from organisations and based on a fragmented and uncertain intermediary function.

At the top end of the market is good structure whilst at the very small end, there would appear to be no or virtually no structure.  The winners are those who can find out how best to handle the challenges and make the market work for them. The winners are those who invariably work hardest at it.

• NEDs are independent – and are widely described as such.
• But, as Statutory Directors, are Officers of the company and on the payroll, treated as “Employees”.
• “Independence” is a two-edged sword. You need to know enough to be able to do your job properly as an NED – but if you know too much you may well move into the “Executive” space. Not what you are supposed to be doing.
• Some take the view that NED appointments should notbe your main full-time occupation. Some disagree!

As with all our Career Option MasterClasses , our approach is through three MasterClasses of one hour each.