The Culture Nerds - A Leadership Podcast

Aspiration, Articulation and Application with David Schwarz, CEO of Board Direction

Season 1 Episode 31

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 1:06:00

Text us your thoughts or questions

This week’s podcast features an interview with David Schwarz, the CEO of Board Direction

David is Australia’s leading board recruitment expert and the author of the internationally selling book  Board Appointments: The Definitive Guide to Gaining a Non-Executive Directorship

He passionately believes that every leader benefits from a board role. In our interview, he addresses some mindsets that prevent people from exploring the opportunity

The Good, The Bad or The What-The?

Last week, Simon facilitated an activity for some young, emerging leaders. One team had varied views about how to approach a situation and had the courage to sit with uncomfortable, discuss their differences, and arrive at a conclusion - instead of just 'making nice.' The result? An exceptional decision, which produced an outstanding result. More importantly, they saw the value of a workplace behaviour that will make them outstanding leaders. We loved seeing people grow through the power of experiential learning to create real world outcomes.

Words of Authenticity

It’s not our job to make it comfortable, it’s our job to make it respectful - Kirralea’s advice for leaders as they coach their people

Worth The Time

The Discomfort Zone: How Leaders Turn Difficult Conversations into Breakthroughs by Marcia Reynolds.

Interview Summary

Our interviews aim to be conversational, so they aren’t always linear. These are the main points, roughly in order.

  • Not even the no 1 David Schwarz!
  • What a board appointment will do for EVERY leader’s career
  • The risks versus rewards of board appointments 
  • Developing strategic capability
  • Relationships that pay off for a lifetime
  • Enhance promotion and consulting prospects
  • What is the right board for me?
  • Ensuring you and the board are a cultural fit
  • Governance versus operational
  • The time commitment to be on a board
  • Dealing with impostor syndrome
  • Aspiration, Articulation & Application
  • Identifying and articulating the value you offer a board
  • The great news about how 80% of board appointments are made
  • Building connections who will help you gain the right board appointment
  • The power of loose ties

The debrief–what we learned from David

The messages we loved were that everyone has something to offer a board - it’s about finding the right fit - and that every leader will be a better leader for their board experience

******************************************************
Visit our website The Real Learning Experience

Thanks to our producer, Josh at
JCALdigital.org