Non Exec Directors – Reputation Buzz

Non-Exec Directors

Transitioning into a NED role

Taking a Non-Exec Director role after a long and successful career is a logical step for people looking to develop new challenges and directions.

Companies who need NEDs will be looking for candidates with experience and good reputation. You can demonstrate your experience through your CV, but your reputation will have arrived at the interview well in advance of you, and will have set expectations before you even enter the room.

If you are considering a NED role, then doing some work on how you are perceived, and understanding what the ‘market’ is saying about you, is essential.

Choosing the right role

Your reputation and personal brand is the most valuable thing you will have after a long career.

When choosing a NED role, it is important to make sure the company you are considering shares the same values that you do. You should be asking yourself whether your reputation will be enhanced or could be damaged by the company you are looking at.

You should look carefully at the businesses ethics and brand, and carry out a matching exercise against your own personal brand.

Board Responsibility

NEDs have numerous statutory and legal obligations as members of the board of a business.

You will be asked to make decisions that will have a material impact on people’s lives, both inside and outside the company.

The reputational impact of those decisions can be substantial, with the ability to significantly affect the way the business is perceived, either positively or negatively.

Reputational Meta-risk

One of the key tools of a board of directors is the Risk Register. All the risks to the business are listed and weighted for likelihood and impact.

Reputational risk is not always included as a line item. It is, however, a meta-risk; something that lies over individual risks that can seriously damage or destroy a business if the response to something going wrong is mishandled.

As a NED, you need to have a good understanding of how the risk register can impact the company’s reputation in the event something goes wrong.

The role of a Non-Executive Director is challenging and rewarding. Your reputation and personal brand plays a role in getting you appointed as a NED, and once in the role, you play a big part in ensuring the reputation of the business you are governing.

We can help you with all the reputation and brand aspects of your role as a Non-Exec Director, advising you as an individual or as advisors to your board.

What should I do next?

Contact us for a confidential conversation or take Reputation Buzz’s five question health check to find out how well you manage your reputation at the moment. It’s free and only takes a couple of minutes.

Non-Exec Director Reputation Health Check

5 questions to assess your current reputation:

If you are a human and are seeing this field, please leave it blank.

Do you know what your reputation is?

Yes, I know very clearly
I think I know, but have no way of being sure
I don‘t know

How often have you asked someone what they thought about you?

I regularly use methods to assess the strength of my reputation
I sometimes ask people about my reputation
I've never asked anyone what they think

Is your career dependent on having a good reputation?

No, I don’t need a strong reputation in my line of work
Having a strong reputation would help me in my career ambitions
A strong reputation is essential for me to achieve my ambitions

Are you aware of any risks to your reputation?

Yes, I regularly assess risks to my reputation
I'm aware there are risks, but not sure what to do about them
It's not something I've ever considered

Has your reputation ever suffered from something that has happened?

No, nothing has happened that would damage my reputation
There have been a couple of occasions when my reputation has been slightly damaged
Yes, I've had a serious set-back to my reputation

Your Result

Show me

You are aware of what your reputation is and this is already giving you an advantage in the competitive world of work.

Your reputation is a blind-spot for you, and this poses a big risk to your success and progress in the future. You may already have a great reputation and don't know it. You may also find your reputation isn't so great and is holding you back.

You are doing the right things to monitor and manage your reputation for the future.

By not having any process for finding out about your reputation, you are missing an opportunity to start managing your reputation in a positive way.

However, you say your reputation isn't important in your career. This could be the reality, but as there are few careers where reputation doesn't have an impact, it could also be a blind spot in the way you think about your future.

It's great that you recognise how important having a strong reputation is to your career success.

As you are regularly assessing the risks to your reputation, you are unlikely to be caught by surprise by unexpected events. Even if the worst does happen, you are likely to be prepared and you're reputation will have a robustness already built into it.

You are in danger of being taken by surprise by unexpected events if you don’t have a clear understanding of the risks to your reputation. Assessing the risks and building a response plan can help build robustness into your reputation.

As you have never suffered reputational damage, you are either very good at managing your reputation up until now, or you have been very lucky! Just be careful that this is actually complacency.

You are aware of the reputational damage that can come from set-backs. This should give you plenty of incentive to do more to actively manage your reputation more closely, and try to avoid setbacks in the future.

Short Summary

Mostly Ticks – You seem to have your reputational management under control; it's obviously something you take seriously. We can help you develop the techniques and tools still further. A first step could be to do a Reputation Buzz survey to check that your assumptions about your reputation are accurate.

Mostly Crosses – You have an opportunity to improve the way you manage your reputation and potentially change the way other people perceive you. The first step is find out how people see you now by doing a Reputation Buzz survey to understand your reputation today.