How to get on a board.

• Position: Director recruiting

Sometimes the advice is contradictory, but more often the following experts are in sync with their tips and tactics: Be smart, be successful, be seen, be self-aware, and be of sound ethics. And it doesn't hurt to ask. The compete guide to being considered for a seat at the board table.

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First, assess your motivations

Before you are ready to pursue board membership, you must make sure you are doing so for the right reasons.

THIS IS A particularly interesting time to be asking how to get on a board--when many directors are focused on how to get off a board! Nonetheless, the question is endowed with special importance as boards respond in their search for talent to the pressures of the global marketplace and increased governance demands.

Having participated in some 500 meetings of Fortune 100 company boards, I've observed that the first step in "getting on a board" is to ask why you want to be on a board. If the answer is for self-aggrandizement or prestige, the reputational risks today far outweigh any such benefits. Similarly, if it is for financial reward, there are easier, less risky ways to make money. If it is because you have a "cause" to promote, you are clearly not a good board candidate because your role as a director will not be to represent a single interest but to represent the interests of shareholders as a whole.

But if you seek board service because you would genuinely like to make a contribution, and to learn while so doing, then you are indeed a solid candidate.

Of course, the most effective avenue to board service is to have made such noteworthy contributions in your own career that you are routinely noticed by nominating committee members--but, unfortunately, not all of us are Nobel laureates. It is also valuable to have a deserved reputation as a constructive, selfless individual with sound judgment who can work in a collegial fashion even while taking issue with positions held by others. A deep commitment to ethical behavior is important, as are unbending discretion and the willingness and ability to commit significant amounts of time. Another major criterion is the absence of conflicts of interest (which, incidentally, poses an intriguing dilemma, since it often rules out serving in the very field in which you have derived most of your credentials!). Broad experience is helpful, even though boards are often seeking to balance themselves with specific skills--currently, financial expertise is highly prized. It's logical that the broader one's ability and experience, the more likely one is to find a fit.

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As is almost always the case, the best way to be "noticed," whether seeking a promotion in management or a board seat, is to focus on carrying out your own regular responsibilities in a laudable fashion and not to divert valuable time and effort to being noticed.

In those exceptional cases in which this approach does not prove effective, you can solicit the assistance of "head hunters" (a form of help that on occasion can prove beneficial), or simply write to the chairs of nominating committees indicating your interest and credentials--an approach that is rarely successful, since most boards are sufficiently small that there is a reluctance to risk allocating a valuable seat to an unknown individual.

The days of gaining board seats by losing at golf to the CEO every Saturday are fast waning. (I take considerable pride in the fact that I've never held a golf club in my hand!) Simply letting as many people as possible know of your interest--i.e., networking--is still by far the best approach. Involvement in professional associations and on charitable boards can be valuable in this regard.

Targeting smaller companies that may better fit your experience level is also a wise idea, as is seeking a seat on a foreign company board that may want to add a U.S. member but is having difficulty finding a suitable candidate because of the travel demands.

Finally, there is the time-honored, "sure-thing" approach: Start a company of your own and elect yourself chairman. You might even give yourself a raise!

BY NORMAN R. AUGUSTINE

Norman R. Augustine is the former chairman and chief executive officer of the Lockheed Martin Corp. He is a member of the boards of Black and Decker Corp., ConocoPhillips, and Procter & Gamble Co. He is or has been a trustee of Johns Hopkins, MIT, and Princeton as well as Colonial Williamsburg, and is a former chairman of the American Red Cross and the National Academy of Engineering. He is a member of the editorial advisory board of DIRECTORS & BOARDS.

Abandon certain misconceptions

Some wrong-headed notions need to be put aside in your pursuit of a directorship.

THE INITIAL REACTION to the question of "How do I get on a corporate board?" might be "Why would you want to?"

Why on earth would anyone of sound mind be interested in serving on a corporate board in today's anti-business, regulation-infested, over-taxed, anti-globalization, protectionist-minded, constantly investigated, negative-headline-filled governance environment?

Stop and think. Regulators are telling us how much cream to put in...