Why You Should Stop Saying “I Want to Be a PUBLIC Company Board Director” (And What to Say Instead If You Actually Want One)

If you’re an accomplished executive thinking about your first board role, you’ve probably been told:“Let people know you’re interested in board service.”

That advice is correct.

How most people execute it is not.

When you tell a sitting director or search professional, “I want to be a public company board director,” here’s what may quietly go through their mind:

• I know thousands of people who want exactly that.

• Why public specifically—because you love SEC filings, or because you’ve heard it’s high pay for limited time?

• Is this a “post-executive” fallback because operating roles are harder to find or pin-money for retirement?

• Ambition is fine—why aren't they open to getting governance experience on a non-public board. Is there no private company they have interest in?

• This person hasn’t explained why they’re more valuable than current public company CEOs or experienced directors.

• Public boards have the fewest openings and the highest bar—why is this their starting point?

• Have they done any real research on boards beyond the prestige factor?

• Do they care about the company—or just the title?

  
  

None of this is personal.

It's simply how some experienced directors think.

And this is the critical mistake first-time board candidates make:

They talk about a title they want—rather than the specific value one company needs now.

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What Boards Are Actually Looking For

Here’s the insider truth:

Boards are not looking for “another board director.”They already know plenty.

They are looking for one very specific thing:

Someone who can help their company succeed by addressing a current strategic gap—something the existing board is not deeply equipped to handle.

That gap might be:

• Entering a new specialist target market, like medical injectors, by modifying their product

• Exiting a legacy business or division and replacing revenue in an adjacent growth area

• First time direct-to-consumer initiative in highly competitive pet accessories, competing with big brand leaders and marketplaces

• Optimizing the outcome with an aggressive activist

• Replacing revenue and margins due to store closures in the toy industry

• First large-scale M&A with leadership integration for a retail home improvement supplier

Whatever it is, it’s company-specific and time-specific. Providing a list of your strengths may demonstrate that you don't understand the collaborative role of a board and complementing others' strengths. Being nominated is about providing the one thing they don't have and need for the next few years, rather than the things you're good at.

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What to Say Instead

Replace “I want to be a public company board director” with something far more compelling:

1. Name the companies

   Identify one or two companies you genuinely admire and understand.

   
   

2. Demonstrate you’ve done the homework

   Understand:

   • Their strategy

   • Their #1 risk or fear regarding shareholder/stakeholder value

   • Their growth challenges, their differentiators

   • Their board composition, their board culture

   • Their competition, their customers, industry trends and data

     
     

3. Articulate the gap

   What does this company need now to grow successfully over the next 3–5 years?

   
   

4. Position yourself as a complement, not a replacement

   Explain how your experience adds something the board currently lacks.

This shifts the conversation from:

“Can you help me get on any board?”

to:

“Here’s how I can help this company win.”

That is a fundamentally different—and far more attractive—message.

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Why This Works (And Why Most People Won’t Do It)

Yes, this approach requires work.

Research (lots more for private companies). Thought. Precision.

But that’s exactly the point.

Boards don’t want people chasing titles.They want people willing to do the work before they ever get the role.

When you show that:

• You care about the company and you are really passionate about their business, their mission, and what they do for people

• You understand its challenges

• You bring scarce, relevant expertise

something powerful happens:

Directors start associating your name with a specific company and strategic capability.

And then:

• Similar companies come to mind

• Conversations get warmer

• Opportunities expand beyond a single board

You stop being “one of thousands who want any public board seat” and become someone directors would be thrilled to serve alongside.

That’s how first board roles are actually won.

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From Networking to Directing, for Trailblazers

At Board Search Secrets, we help you stop chasing connections and start board directing.

• Have great boards find you

• Know which companies need you now

• Where the hidden empty board seats are

• How and when to address a board’s urgent, ongoing use case, and to whom

• What to stop doing, and what to start doing more

Stop networking and wasting time on ineffective tactics. Start board directing.