Boarding Pass
Strategic Consultant Emma Duke writes about her personal trustee journey - and why she believes that every PR should sit on a Board.
What do you think of when you think of a Board? A group of interfering, white male accountants? Painful school governor meetings, involving uncomfortable plastic chairs? Whether you decide to join the Board of a charity, school or listed company, a Board provides another layer of accountability to an organisation. It often sets the strategy and values – with the support of the management team – and ensures they’re delivered. It ensures the financial sustainability of an organisation, through constant oversight of the finances and assessment of current cashflow, savings, investments and renumeration.
I too now sit on the Board as a trustee of a charity that supports people experiencing homelessness and mental health issues, and it’s one of the biggest learning experiences I’ve ever had. I’d intended to explore governance as an opportunity for some time, and finally made the headspace to do so. Apart from the opportunity to understand more about the charity, its work and its clients, a big revelation was understanding how similar the role of public relations is to that of a Board member. And it’s striking how many of its principles are also vital to our roles as PR practitioners.
The Boards I work with – both charities and listed companies – are increasingly looking for better understanding of culture, leadership and soft skills.
Environment-scanning, risk assessment and mitigation, reputation monitoring and audience insight are all highly relevant skills in both PR and Board governance. The Charity Commission’s Charity Governance Code includes seven guiding principles: leadership, integrity, decision making, risk and control, board effectiveness, diversity, openness and accountability – you’ll find most of these principles in our job descriptions.
“Successful Boards understand influence, the importance of stakeholders and culture,” says Fiona Hathorne, CEO of Women on Boards. “The Boards I work with – both charities and listed companies – are increasingly looking for better understanding of culture, leadership and soft skills.”
A new perspective
And yet, my fellow Board members reflect a level of experience I’ve not yet reached, particularly in the housing and care sector. I quickly found a comfort level with the content of our meetings that went far beyond my views on the Marketing and PR strategy. Navigating a risk register, probing the stakeholder map, and asking questions I knew employees or journalists would ask was squarely in my comfort zone. And people listened: they valued my input and took action as a result. As someone whose imposter syndrome has a flexi-desk in her office, this was unexpected.
“It’s given me a whole new perspective on my working life,” says Joel Meekison, a trustee for the Scottish Child Law Centre. “As an Account Executive in a PR agency, I’m a relatively junior member of the team, but in my trustee role, I’m part of a team the CEO reports in to: the combination of these two views of an organisation is very powerful.
“In the last three years of being a trustee, I’ve learnt the power of stepping back. Striking the balance between providing someone with counsel and allowing them the space to flourish. It’s not an easy thing to do, and something I don’t envy my own managers – in fact I think it makes me more understanding of them.”
An opportunity
As a result of being on a Board, you’re able to delve into complex subjects, before moving quickly on to the next agenda item, and translate that skill into a consultancy day job. So with the similarities of skills and values between governance and public relations being undeniable, I’m on a mission: to encourage as many fellow practitioners as possible to become trustees or Non-Exec Directors.
This is an opportunity: to demonstrate the strategic value of PR, to advance our careers and our confidence when advising senior leaders. The value of sitting on Boards to your current and future career is significant: it demonstrates another level of organisational experience and maturity others will struggle to match (imagine being the only candidate who can analyse a company’s statement of accounts).
More importantly, businesses and charities need us. At a time when trust in authorities is at a record low, when “ESG is firmly on the Board agenda”, as Fiona Hathorn says, when CEO’s are grappling with the increased expectations of regulators, shareholders and employees alike, surely this is precisely the time for public relations practitioners to take a seat at that Board table.
How do I become a Board member?
- Women on Boards has lots of articles and training about becoming a board member (for all genders) and a vacancy board
- The Charity Commission’s The Essential Trustee is important reading before you apply for a trustee role at a charity and Reach Volunteering is a good way of finding that role
- ‘What is the role of the Board?’ is a good introduction to Board membership for listed companies
- The Young Trustees Movement is made up of current and aspiring young trustees and works towards doubling the number of trustees aged 30 and under on charity boards by 2024.
The CIPR has recently partnered with College Green Academy to provide exclusive member rates on board level training courses including 'Preparing for the NED role'. Find out more here.
