The Ms. CEO Show

Whew! Today’s show was jam-packed with incredibly valuable information for both women entrepreneurs and corporate careerwomen who wish to be recruited to corporate boards. It was also valuable for men who own businesses, or work at companies that lack women in leadership in large numbers, because the evidence of the difference that inclusion of women in leadership makes is substantial. We had a stellar line-up of guests:

• Wendy Beecham, CEO of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives;
• Bob Pearson, 30-year senior level executive recruiter and principal of Pearson Partners International;
• Susan Colantuono, the CEO and Founder of Leading Women and its Women on Boards program, and author of the soon-to-be-released book, “No Ceiling, No Walls: What Women Haven’t Been Told about Leadership from Career Start to the Corporate Boardroom”; and
• Jacqui Brandwynne, President and CEO of the Brandwynne Corp, and a business strategy and marketing expert—and turnaround specialist—in the health, beauty and banking industries, among others.

Each of these guests shared a compelling perspective, and wise and knowledgable bit of substance regarding why more women are not on boards, the difference that it could make for women to be on boards, and how we should prepare and present ourselves to be selected for boards. I learned SO much!

We’ll have a feature article on this topic in the upcoming issue of Ms. CEO Magazine, so make sure you subscribe. Each of our guests stressed the importance of having a board bio and resume’ and in Ms. CEO Magazine we will feature the “anatomy” of this specialized kind of bio and resume’. This helpful information will be available to subscribers only!

(I must digress and tell you, as well, that we’ll be giving away free full page ads in Ms. CEO Magazine. Find out more here.)

Without further ado, here are the Top 10 Takeaways from today’s show:

1. It’s not just who you know; it’s who knows you, too. Our guests agreed that fully 80 percent or more of corporate board appointments, or even recommendations, come as a result of being known and referred by someone already on a board. Well, with the majority of boards being comprised of men, that means you have to network with everyone, men included, to be seen and remembered. (By the way, being remembered has a lot to do with your personal brand. Whether you’re a woman entrepreneur or intrapreneur—an intrapreneur builds business units aggressively within a company—you’ve got to have a memorable brand for just this reason. We’ll be talking about personal and company branding on the September 8th show, so tune in.)
2. Look really good…on paper. To be seriously considered for a board appointment you need to look good on paper and that means having an impressive “board bio and resume”. This is different from your run-of-the-mill bio and resume. It needs to stress operational, financial, and strategic successes you have led at the helm of your own company—or at the helm of a business unit within a company. The old sales rule applies to this one: Benefits not features. So, rather than listing the plum assignments you have, you want to stress and illustrate the plum results you’ve gotten as the leader of major projects or an upstart business that you built to the multi-million or multi-billion dollar level.
3. No interns, sorry. Corporate boards of all size companies want board directors with experience because ultimately the board’s job is to direct the company’s leadership in the best interest of shareholders. So you must be able to hold the CEO, CFO, COO and others accountable for having and executing a solid corporate strategy. To do this, you have to know your stuff (or as one of our guests more eloquently said, “have business acumen”). This basically boils down to board experience and recruiters or corporate boards will pass over you if you don’t have any.
4. Intern! Since corporate boards are adamant about appointing directors who have experience, go out and get some on a board as soon as possible. You can start with non-profit boards. And, as our final guest of the hour, Jacqui Brandwynne, who has been on many, many boards (of very large companies) pointed out, you should take every board assignment very seriously. Non-profits and for-profits. Manage the company as if it were your own. And not doing so can get you into REAL trouble, too. Real spelled S-U-E-D (by shareholders). So, board membership is a lot of responsibility and non-profit boards are a great place—with a lot of work—to learn all about it.
5. Work in the business of the business. Alot of factors commingle, apparently, and depress the number of women on boards, including the fact that women are often encouraged to pursue non-financial or non-operational positions and professions. Yet, these kinds of backgrounds and positions—financial and operational—are quite, if not more, appealing to corporate boards. human resources and marketing are exceptionally important, as well, but statistically, women excel in these areas while often shying away from finance and operations. This is not to say you have to go into these areas if you don’t really enjoy them but as an entrepreneur it’s almost certain you’ll have to excel in these areas, at least from a management perspective, to succeed—and as a corporate careerwoman you need to vie for opportunities in these areas to increase your chances of being on a corporate board one day.
6. Eat your wheaties! Get ready for some late nights, early mornings and long days. More than one of our guests emphasized the fact that it sounds really cool and glamorous to say you’re on a corporate board but at the end of the day, that also means a sizeable time commitment, depending on the market capitalization of the company (small, mid, large). If you want to be on a corporate board and do a good job, get ready to commit the time—in addition to all of your other responsibilities—to being a board member and representing yourself well, and also leaving the opportunity open for other women. We can have it all, but not all at once, so make the move to be on a board when you have the time to commit to corporateg governance.
7. Tell it like it is, so it can become the way it should be. As a Director, you’ll need to be able to ask tough questions and hold C-level executives accountable (and these could be people older than you, with more degrees than you, and more experience than you; but it doesn’t matter). Essentially, it’s your job to protect the corporation and its owners (shareholders) against negligence, poor strategy, hasty decisions, greed, corruption and all other manner of ill, ignorance, apathy, inagility and uninspired thinking that impacts the performance of companies. This will sometimes mean being a contrarian, and possibly standing alone. Gender doesn’t matter. Right choices do. And the ability and willingness to communicate the most prudent course of action matters even more. Ask yourself if you can do this. I hope you said, “yes,” if you’re interested in being on a board because it’s a requirement (an unspoken one, anyway).
8. Companies really are looking for a few good women! This was great to know from our guests: Companies of all sizes actively seek women to be on their corporate boards. Bob Pearson said that typically in his searches the companies actually request a diverse pool of applicants both in terms of gender and race/ethnicity. Companies are looking for you, so listen to this show (you can list to it on the player to the right and you can also subscribe to our show on iTunes; search “The Ms. CEO Show”) and do everything recommended by our guests to get yourself in line for a corporate board position.
9. It’s about the money, honey! An absolute imperative for being on a corporate board is that you understand the financials. If this isn’t your strong suit, take a course, get personal coaching, do what is required to shore up in this area because it will serve you well professionally and in your pursuit of a corporate board assignment.
10. There’s power in numbers (and knowledge). Think about joining an organization that is a member of ION, which is working through organizations across the United States to inform and empower women to prepare themselves for corporate board memberships—and to remind companies of the major difference that women in leadership can make. Get informed, get involved!

Be Encouraged,
Felicia Joy

Today on The Ms. CEO Show we discussed healthcare reform from the perspective of the small business owner.  A true discussion of the facts with no PR, politics or misplaced passion has not been had in mainstream media, if you ask me, and I wanted to have it; so we did.  This is not just a ratings boosting topic for The Ms. CEO Show.  I wanted to get to the facts.  This is a real issue that could affect entrepreneurs and small business owners in a major way.  The wrong turn could put some folks out of business—and make it that much more frightening, risky and cost prohibitive for some folks to go into business.  Either of these scenarios are the last things we need with the U.S. and global economies continuing to struggle (despite what those brainiac economists said in this week’s Wall Street Journal about the recession being over). 

So, all business owners need to be concerned about this issue, and perhaps women business owners especially.  I came across a compelling and provocative blog article by Nancy Duff Campbell, founder and co-president of the National Women’s Law Center, in which she advocates for healthcare reform for business owners—and especially women business owners, who she says are adversely and disproportionately affected by a decaying and archaic healthcare system.  Whether you agree or not, it’s an interesting read.

Also, at the heart of this debate is whether healthcare is a right or a privilege.  What do you think?

Our guests for today: Kristie Arslan, Executive Director of the National Association for the Self Employed (NASE) ; Roslyn Stone, COO of Corporate Wellness and a small business owner who likes to provide full health coverage for her employees; and Kesi Stribling, creator of the national stakeholder initiative, 100DaysIn.com, and also a small business owner—all had plenty to say.  Check out the entire show on the player to the right or subscribe to it on iTunes (search “The Ms. CEO Show” on iTunes). 

Meanwhile, here are the top 10 takeaways from what the business owners and advocates on today’s show had to say collectively:

1. No Mandated Coverage: As a small business owner let your elected officials know that we do not want mandated coverage to be a part of healthcare reform.  Healthcare costs and insurance are still too high so mandating coverage is essentially adding a whopping additional expense to the budgets of small business owners and entrepreneurs who are already battling high costs to stay in business and grow.
2. No New Taxes: We know someone has to foot the bill but as a small business owner, let Congress know that you do not want to see an increase in taxes (or at least not an exorbitant one) to pay for this reform when other aspects of the healthcare system need to be restructured and overhauled to drive costs—and therefore the money needed to pay for reform–down.
3. Make healthare costs and insurance more affordable before you go digging into the pockets of everyday working people.  Affordability in every respect is a critical issue that Congress needs to consider before making any final moves.  Healthcare needs to be more affordable.  Health insurance needs to be more affordable.  And, as an entrepreneur, you can be proactive to control your own healthcare costs by being part of an association or alliance.  Check out the NASE as one such alliance.  (Check out “Group Power” on this page for a better understanding of why being part of an association or alliance matters.)
4. If it’s a business expense (and healthcare is a heck of an expense) it should be deductible, period.  Deductibility is important.  With small business owners spending so much on healthcare — in some cases, as mcuh as 20% of revenues — it should be deductible but it is not.  This should certainly change!  Advocate for deductibility.
5. Confused?  Get more clarity through the National Association of the Self-Employed.  The whole healthcare reform debate is confusing but I found on today’s show that I was less confused after hearing the explanations and information provided to us by Kristie Arslan, Executive Director of the NASE.  Check out their Health 101 website  section — and listen to the show — for greater clarity.
6. Tell the Small Business Committees of the U.S. House and Senate that you are expecting them to do their jobs!  Stay in touch — or get in touch — with Congress, particularly the strategic members of Congress, who can make final decisions and have real sway when it comes to this issue.  Both the House and Senate sides of Congress have Small Business Committees who should be advocating for our needs and concerns in this issue.  Get in touch with both the Senate and House Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committees and let your voice be heard!
7. This isn’t just a D.C. battle, it’s coming to your backyard too.  Check into how you will be affected at the state level when it comes to healthcare reform.  The entire debate has been discussed from the federal legislative perspective but it seems that there could be another showdown—or more frankly, a big mess—when it’s time for the states to have their say or administer the reform laws that are eventually passed.  The NASE, again, has an informative primer on state impact—check it out.
8. Do what entrepreneurs and small business owners do best—DO something.  We can’t let apathy set in on this one.  Make a phone call.  Send a letter.  Send an e-mail.  Real reform is needed and something is going to be passed. All of us are going to shoulder the cost and burden of healthcare reform so have your say in it before it is too late!
9. Correct knowledge is power—take advantage of what is being provided!  Get informed and stay informed about this issue.  For small business owners, I think NASE is the source to which to remain connected on this issue. 
10. Answer the philosophical question for yourself, and move forward accordingly.  The underlying question in all of this, really, is this: Is healthcare a right or a privilege?  If you have not answered that question for yourself then there is a starting place to decide what you believe and what you will ultimately advocate for.  I think everyone should have access to basic health care and that we need to do a lot more preventive education, awareness and advocacy.

Whatever you believe when it comes to healthcare reform, I hope you will DO something about it because as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said: We must live together as sisters and brothers, or perish together as fools.