Taking on a board director role requires a shift in thinking that’s different from being a business owner or senior executive.

Life experience counts for a lot on boards, but even the most successful and confident directors can bump into challenges as they go.

That was certainly the case for executive coach Stephanie Abbott.

When the NSW-based organisational development specialist decided to undertake formal board training, she already had a solid grounding in governance, shaped by her legal training and practical experience.

Stephanie now serves on several boards spanning a family business, the NSW-based arts and culture not-for-profit BlackLight Collective, and the BASIL Research Initiative.

She first learned the ropes in smaller organisations. Over time, she found herself stepping into increasingly complex roles, such as needing to provide oversight of auspicing arrangements, and wanted to ensure her governance capability matched that responsibility.

In today’s business world, governance has never been more complex. When boards make mistakes, directors can be held accountable – so learning how to avoid those mistakes in the first place is paramount.

While confident in her skills and ability, she decided to enrol in formal training through the Australian Institute of Company Directors’ Foundations of Directorship (FOD) course, a three-day program covering the bases of governance, finance, risk and strategy.

With funding accountability and board-level oversight becoming more visible in those roles, she recognised the importance of honing her skills in financial stewardship and risk governance.

“It reassured me that there weren’t many gaps in my knowledge, which built confidence in my ability to contribute – and it showed me where my gaps actually were so I could address them,” she tells Business Builders.

Making the necessary mindset shift

The course reinforced the shift founders often need to make when stepping from running a business into a board role.

“There is a mindset shift from being focused on execution and personally undertaking tasks, to setting direction and thinking strategically,” Stephanie says.

Through the course, she says she gained greater clarity about where board responsibility sits, allowing her to contribute through judgement, oversight and the questions asked at the table, rather than stepping into execution.

It’s a key learning for anyone who’s used to working more in a business, rather than on a business.

Gaining the confidence to contribute

Confidence is another part of that mindset shift from day-to-day decision making to broader strategic thinking.

Stephanie says a lack of confidence can hold people back from adding real value at board level, particularly those who are newer to board work.

“People can fear asking questions in case they look silly,” she says. “But that can stop them from contributing to their full potential.”

Likewise, she adds clarity around roles and responsibilities makes a practical difference to how confidently board members contribute at the table.

“The training reinforced what board responsibility actually involves. As well as building capability, it provided reassurance that I understood my responsibilities before stepping into the role,” Stephanie explains.

Through the program, that clarity extended to a deeper understanding of the board’s role in overseeing risk, interrogating financial information and ensuring strategic decisions were properly tested at board level.

Learning through others’ expertise

If you’re new to a board or are still developing confidence about how and when to raise issues, learning from more experienced peers can make a huge difference.

For Stephanie, the opportunity to discuss real situations with experts proved to be invaluable.

“During my studies with the AICD, there was plenty of storytelling from very senior and knowledgeable people, of course without sharing information that is confidential or sensitive. Human beings learn well from relatable stories, so the information tends to stick,” she says.

Hearing how others had approached complex or uncertain situations at the board table helped translate governance concepts into practical board judgement, she adds.

What you need to bring to a board role

“You don’t need to know everything to join a board,” Stephanie says. “But you do need to be clear about why you’re there and what you bring to the table.”

That means understanding where your expertise adds value, where it does not, and how your contribution fits alongside other board members and management.

She says it’s also important to be honest with yourself about your motivation for joining a board in the first place, and the perspective you are there to provide.

“It’s understandable that in your first board meeting you might sit back and get comfortable with how things work,” she says. “But over time, you do need to be prepared to ask questions, particularly when you don’t understand something and need the information to contribute the lens your expertise offers.”

This highlights a broader responsibility at board level to create an environment where questions are encouraged and tested, rather than avoided.

She has seen boards where meetings quickly move to consensus, something she views as a potential red flag rather than a sign of alignment.

“If every meeting is a consensus fest, that’s a red flag,” she says. “It may mean members are self-censoring for fear of looking silly or disengaged.”

The FOD course reinforced the importance of testing assumptions and speaking up when discussion feels too comfortable, Stephanie says.

In her experience, some of the greatest governance risks arise not from lack of expertise, but from silence, when board members hesitate to probe financial, strategic or operational decisions.

Valuing different voices to the table

Stephanie believes her training has been useful in reinforcing the role boards play in drawing on a range of perspectives, rather than relying on a narrow set of voices.

The best boards benefit from discussion and challenge, she says. It’s one of the most important aspects of a board – each person is there because they have a responsibility not only to contribute their own expertise, but also to help create the conditions for others to do the same.

That includes being attentive to how conversations unfold around the table, whose perspectives may be missing, and how questions are framed to encourage broader input.

It’s all part of the broader learning curve of becoming a great board director. With the right preparation – and mindset – it can be an immensely rewarding avenue to develop professionally and contribute to the success of an organisation.

Discover more about the AICD’s Foundations of Directorship program.

This article is brought to you by Business Builders in partnership with the AICD.

Feature image: Supplied.