董事会虚位以待，应聘者仍须慎重
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背后的阴暗 这些是不是听起来太完美，以至于不太真实？的确，这看似美好的图景背后也有阴暗一面。 有经验的应聘者通常会比新手更受青睐，这并不奇怪。即使他们曾担任董事的那些公司陷入了麻烦，他们在竞争董事会席位的过程中也会更有优势。洛克中心的报告指出，“如果一个人曾经在出现过重大的会计或伦理问题的公司担任首席执行官，那么只有37%的董事认为他能够成为称职的董事会成员，而对于曾经在类似公司担任董事的人来说，这一比例却高达67%。” 加入董事会的另一个困难是必须吸引到他人的关注。根据女性公司董事协会的调查，78%的董事会成员并不需要自己去寻觅他们的第一份董事会职位。大多数应聘者都是受邀参加面试的。专业人际网络对于获得面试机会非常关键。但是，女性通常缺乏机会接触到这类圈子，参与调查的董事会成员们认为董事会女性比例不足的主要原因也正在于此。 除了人际关系，当然，更为重要的是，要让合适的人赏识你，你还需要一些技能，而这些技能是其他董事所看重的，比如运作企业或者财务决策的能力。现在，希望吸收新人的董事会扩大了范围，希望新成员掌握更多样化的经验。女性公司董事系会的调查结果指出，近半数董事认为当今的董事会缺乏某些专门技术。史宾沙管理顾问咨询公司表示，约有30%的董事正在寻求增加董事会的新技能。然而，即便如此，分析和概念思考技能通常是董事会所遗漏的考察项目。 “人际化学作用”这条术语，或者说你与其他董事会成员和谐共事的能力在董事会调研中经常会用到。这一点可能会左右是否聘用的决定。直至今天，如果要填补董事会职位空缺，吹毛求疵的麻烦人物通常都被排除在外。 22 %的人能够积极主动地寻找第一份董事会职位并最终获得该职位，而不是一味坐等伯乐的出现。就算是这22%中的成员，最终如愿获得董事职位可能会需要一段时间。根据女性公司董事协会的调查，女性平均要花2.3年，而男性平均需要1.7年。 三思而后行 一旦扫清了这些障碍，公司董事就可能成为一份非常诱人的工作。但同时，你也将面临两难的境地。因为，既然这份工作这么好，你将来愿意舍弃吗？你真的能独立地表达自己的想法，承担艰巨的挑战吗？ 即使你并不是薪酬委员会的成员，如果你对首席执行官的薪水持有异议，你会大胆说出来吗？还是在董事会会议中保持缄默（或者是像某些董事会成员那样转而向我发牢骚）？你是否会就很棘手的问题主动开启讨论，询问有深度的问题，还是等等看是否有其他人率先发言？ 你可能认为自己已经做好担任公司董事的准备。事实可能的确如此，但还是请三思而后行。要知道，你对公司和首席执行官的监督工作做得好不好，关系到我国经济会得到巩固还是遭到削弱，关系到建立起公众对美国商界和资本市场的信任，还是助长人们的不满情绪。 不是所有人都有道义上的勇气来承担这份工作。如果你没有，那么就请帮帮忙，不要申请这份工作。 Eleanor Bloxham是董事资讯公司价值同盟和公司治理同盟公司的首席执行官(http://thevaluealliance.com)。 译者：李玫晓/汪皓 |
The obstacles Does this all sound too good to be true? Well, there is a dark side to this otherwise rosy picture. What's not too surprising is that experienced board candidates often get preference over newcomers. And even if these experienced directors have served on the board of a problem company, they are still very much in the running for that board seat you may desire. According to the Rock Center report, "While only 37% of directors believe that an ex-CEO of a company that experienced substantial accounting or ethical problems can be a good board member, 67% believe a director of a similarly-plagued company can." Another challenge in landing that board seat: you need to get noticed. According to WCD, 78% of board members don't have to seek their first board position; most candidates are invited to interview and professional networks are critical to getting that interview. Still today, women tend to lack access to these networks, and directors surveyed cited this as the primary reason for women's disappointing representation on boards. Besides knowing people -- and, more importantly, having the right people know you -- you also need skills that other directors value, such as running a business or making financial decisions. But boards looking for new members are broadening the kinds of experience that they desire. Nearly half of directors believe there are areas of expertise missing on their boards today, according to the WCD survey, and almost 30% are looking to add new skills to the board, according to Spencer Stuart. Even with these changes, however, analytical and conceptual thinking skills are too often missing from these lists. The term "chemistry," or your ability to work collegially with the other members, is often used in board searches, and it can make or break the hiring decision. Even today, prickly devil's advocates are not often sought to fill these spots. And if you are one of the 22% who, rather than waiting to be discovered, actively searches for that first board position and eventually gets one, it can still take a while: 2.3 years on average for women and 1.7 years for men, according to WCD. Look before you leap Still, if you clear these hurdles, a board seat can be a very appealing job. But there's the rub. Because with a job that great, will you be willing to leave it? Will you really be independent, speak your mind, and take on the tough challenges? Even if you don't sit on the compensation committee, will you speak up when you disagree with CEO pay or will you keep your mouth shut in the boardroom (and, as some board members do, complain to me instead)? Will you broach the really difficult subjects, ask deep questions, or wait to see if someone else speaks first? You may think you are ready to sit on a board. And maybe you are. But think twice. How you do the job of overseeing a corporation and a CEO has the power to strengthen our economy or weaken it, to build trust in corporate America and our capital markets, or feed growing cynicism. Not everyone has the moral courage to do the job. If you don't, please do everyone a favor: don't apply. Eleanor Bloxham is CEO of The Value Alliance and Corporate Governance Alliance (http://thevaluealliance.com), a board advisory firm. |
