Five tips: Landing a corporate board seat

    by Patricia Sellers

    Only 15.2% of directors of Fortune 500 companies are women, according to a new report from Catalyst, as we noted yesterday.

    Today: Tips for breaking into the boardroom. Listen up, guys. This could help you too.

    I recently talked with Julie Daum, who heads the board search practice at recruiter Spencer Stuart. She also co-lead a session on Corporate Boards at this year’s Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit. Her co-leader was former U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, now a director at Fedex (FDX) and Caterpillar (CAT), and the breakout session’s participants included DuPont (DD) CEO Ellen Kullman, General Motors (GM) director Pat Russo, and Fortune’s resident expert on boards (and many other things), Carol Loomis. Their advice:

    1. Get on search firms’ radar: Search firms are the source of 58% of director recommendations, according to Spencer Stuart,.

    2. Know what corporate boards value: “The ABCs: Attitude, Behavior, Candor,” says Daum. Don’t forget “D”–Diversity. Most boards are looking for women, minorities and people with international expertise.

    3. Consider corporate governance training. Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management has a very good three-day “Women’s Director Development Program” designed for senior execs who want to get on major boards and serve them well.

    4. Know what you’re in for: The average board of an S&P 500 company met nine times last year, , according to Spencer Stuart. Average tenure: 8.4 years.

    5. Don’t do it for the money. The average director at an S&P 500 company gets paid $213,000–58% of that in stock and options, according to Daum’s research. That may sounds like a lot, but she warns, “Make sure the company is worth the possible reputation risk.” That is, if you’re on the board of a company that gets into trouble, you’ll find your time stolen and possibly your personal reputation too.

    One positive trend for anyone who is not a CEO but wants board experience to help get there someday: Boards are appointing fewer sitting CEO than in the past. Why? Because more and more CEOs just don’t have the time. And some companies–including Goldman Sachs (GS), General Electric (GE) and Disney (DIS)–prohibit their most senior executives from serving on outside boards. Which means: More boardroom opportunity for anyone on the way up.