Connect Higher And Offer Yourself for a Board Observer Role, to Advance Professionally

If you are a mid-level manager with an ambition to move to the next level, make efforts to see if there are opportunities where you can serve as a Board Observer even on a pro-bono. In other words, you can attend board meetings without a voting right. 

A Board Observer gets the same information as other directors, including board meeting minutes,  etc, but the individual is not a member of the board, implying that the person does not have a fiduciary duty to the company or its shareholders.

You may know someone in the church, mosque, professional club, etc, and you know a CEO with a decent company, you can seek to be considered in his/her company.  You need to demonstrate the value you will deliver for this unpaid service!

If someone can give you that opportunity, it will help you see things differently. When you attend Board Meetings, you will notice that most times, it is about finance. Largely, you will begin to understand how everything in a company is designed to converge into three main documents – balance sheet, income and cash flow statements. You need to understand how to read those documents to be an important member of that board.  Yes, except as an expert Board Observer (you are there as a subject matter expert, like tech expert, growth expert, etc), understanding how finance works is important. 

Chairman Tony Elumelu gave this village boy-teacher opportunities, and those shaped his ambitions. This photo was during a board meeting on the TEEP $100 Million fund. Weeks before, I was in similar meetings for the banking giant, UBA Group. Those reconfigured my understanding of highercareers, businesses and markets. Without those meetings, we will not have Tekedia Capital. Today, I mentor many young people as we invest $millions yearly in their companies. #ConnectHigher

Register for Tekedia Mini-MBA (Feb 10 - May 3, 2025), and join Prof Ndubuisi Ekekwe and our global faculty; click here.