Huw Thomas:

How I found the path to boardroom success

Huw Thomas was enjoying a pretty successful career as a consultant for various companies and organisations, but after spending years devoting himself to building that career, he was starting to feel restless.

Huw had reached a place in his career where his vision had grown bigger than his role in a company. And having always done some form of charity work on the side, he wanted to take that to the next level and offer his strategic skills to an organisation.

And how could he do that? By joining a board. Huw knew that his career had gifted him with a unique set of skills that would be of benefit to many boards, and furthermore, he knew that there was so much a board role could teach him in return.

Huw was aware of the value he could bring to a boardroom; from assisting in management changes of a business, coaching executives to better understand learning capabilities of their employees in order to implement new business strategies and making sure everyone within the company is on the same page during any transition.

But he wasn’t aware of how he could make that value known to the necessary people. To Huw, it was hard to know where to even begin approaching a board career, let alone knowing whether he really had the required skills or not. As such, Huw had simply toyed with the idea of a board role.

That is, until he was told about the Future Directors Board Ready Program by someone who had seen a magazine article with CEO, Paul Smith. To Huw, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to start chasing those goals.

The benefits Huw received from doing the program are extensive. The experienced insight from Paul about what it’s really like being on a board helped Huw realise just how beneficial his skills would be to the right organisation, and he was able to better understand the pressures behind being on a board, as well as the best ways to overcome them.

Prior to doing the program, Huw’s biggest hurdles to achieving a board role had been struggling to communicate the unique value he could bring to a board, and finding the confidence to go for it. But the program helped him overcome both these issues, and he gained the ability to effectively convey his unique value proposition to a board during the interview process, as well as the confidence to do so.

Since finishing the program in 2016, Huw’s board career has really taken off. He’s currently sitting on two boards, with a third potential role in the pipeline. Huw believes the program was instrumental in giving him the confidence to achieve his goals. It helped him see that he does have the skills needed, and gave him the ability to showcase that properly. He also found a supportive network from both the alumni and the Future Directors team, and believes this has assisted in holding him accountable to keep chasing (and succeeding in reaching) his goals.

Huw believes this program is a highly valuable investment for anyone who might be hoping to achieve a fulfilling board career, and aren’t sure where to really begin. So, if this sounds like you, contact us today to find out how we can set you on the right path too.

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