5 things I learned transitioning from an executive to a non-executive director.

1. Strategic Execution
As a non-executive director, you have to be able to help the executive team translate the vision into something that can be executed. This means you have to have direct and relevant experience at the stage of the company. Many people that surround the executive team will have lots of advice but may have never walked the walk themselves. Make sure you join boards for the right reason and where you can add value.

2. Culture Shaping
As a non-executive director, your goal is to make sure the business is healthy as well as wealthy! This means focusing on the culture of the business. The culture of the entire business can be influenced by the board. How the board behaves, how the board and executives work together and what support the executive team gets from the board are crucial. If your executives are stressed out by the board or board members are complaining about other members of the board then look at the culture and what you can do to improve it.

3. Financial
As a non-executive director you cannot fulfil your fiduciary duties without quickly drawing an informed opinion on the company’s capital structure; its financial gearing, the sustainability of cash flows, or its risk envelope. Management accounts tell you what happened but knowing what’s happening today and tomorrow is much more important.

4. Nose In – Hands Out 
Being a non-executive director requires you to take a step back. This was perhaps the hardest thing for me when I started and I know it’s really hard for many others who struggle with not “telling” executives what to do. Our role is not to tell – it’s to scrutinize, encourage, and advise, not operate. This is important so I am going to repeat – our role is not to tell – it’s to scrutinize, encourage, and advise, not operate.

5. Safety
As a non-executive director, you must create an environment where the executives feel willing to be forthcoming, to admit if something is not going so well, and seek the board’s advice and guidance on how to fix it. It is inappropriate to foster an environment where the executives are fearful. There is no reason for executives to feel they have to be successful and right all the time – because that’s not reality and reality will always get in the way.

There are many more but I thought I would start with these 5.