New Book Reveals Secrets for Women Seeking Corporate Board Membership

NEW YORK, Jan. 12, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Many women executives who are seeking to get onto a public or private company board are going about it in the wrong way, say Nancy Calderon and Susan Stautberg, authors of the new book Women on Board. "Pursuing a board position is not the same as looking for a job. Interviewing for a job requires you to demonstrate your leadership skills, while interviewing for a director's position requires you to demonstrate how well you'd fit into the board's culture."

To uncover the secrets behind the deliberations of nominating committees and determine how successful women directors have been able to thrive in the boardroom, Calderon and Stautberg set out on a global fact-finding mission. They interviewed dozens of chairmen, CEOs, search executives, succession experts and other directors willing to share their lessons learned.

"We're opening the 'black box' of the director selection process and also revealing what it takes to be a high-performance director today – a job that is tougher than ever before," says Stautberg, CEO and co-founder of WomenCorporateDirectors (WCD), the largest global membership organization of women board members.

"There are many unspoken rules about how a board really gets things done," says Calderon, a Global Lead Partner at KPMG LLP and board member of KPMG's Global Delivery Center Ltd in India. "But we are also seeing women helping to drive change in the boardroom and adding extraordinary value with their candid and open discussion about the strategic direction of their companies."

Available in both electronic and print format, Women on Board tackles today's most pressing questions for women pursuing board seats and how to be effective in the role of director. Topics include:

• Do's and don'ts for the board nominating committee interview;
• How to become the best candidate among a slate of powerful contenders;
• Building a "board-able" resume – and taking the right jobs to position oneself in the best way;
• "Rules" for getting things done on a board – inside and outside meetings;
• Special tips for serving on the board of a family business;
• Developing one's CQ – "cultural quotient" – as an essential skill for board service around the world; and
• How advisory boards can bridge key skills gaps on a board.

Sandi Peterson, Group Worldwide Chairman of Johnson & Johnson and a director of Dun & Bradstreet, advises that top-tier global companies heed Calderon and Stautberg's advice: "Women on Board provides a roadmap for high-performing women leaders to join high-performing boards. It is a must-read for every sitting board director, man or woman, and for everyone who aspires to a corporate board seat."

For more information about Women on Board, please contact Suzanne Oaks Brownstein or Trang Mar of Temin and Company at 212-588-8788 or [email protected], or Bridget Carroll of KPMG at 201-505-6501 or [email protected].

About the authors
Nancy Calderon is a Global Lead Partner at KPMG LLP, board member of KPMG's Global Delivery Center Ltd in India, and senior advisor to the firm's Audit Committee Institute. Nancy serves on the WCD Advisory Board and is a Vice-President of the Greater New York YMCA Board, chairing both the Audit and Compensation Committees. She leads a global team of 500 partners and professionals in more than 50 countries providing a wide range of services to a Fortune 20 company and its customers.

Susan Stautberg is the CEO, Co-Founder, and Co-Chair of WCD, the only global membership organization and community of women who serve on public and large family/private company boards. Susan co-founded OnBoard Bootcamp, which provides an insider's guide on how to be selected to be a corporate, private company, or advisory board director. She is also the president of Partnercom, which creates and manages advisory boards around the world.

E-book: ISBN # 978-0-692-26295-5

Paperback: ISBN # 978-0-692-26294-8

SOURCE WomenCorporateDirectors