Is your LinkedIn Profile Board Ready?

When Roselyn, an Organizational Development and Business Structure?Leader signed up for my programme, the LinkedIn Visibility and Content Strategy Course, she did so for one reason.

She had been completing an application for a Board position and was required to share a link to her LinkedIn Profile as part of the application.

Roselyn stopped dead in her tracks and signed up because she knew her current LinkedIn profile in no way demonstrated her Board readiness or expertise.?

But she is not alone.

Yesterday, I had a chat with Folake, a HR and People Management leader with over 20 years of experience working with NGO's?and faith based organizations. Folake has previous Board experience and has also been on various Governing Councils, yet her LinkedIn profile doesn't include a trace of these expertise.?

These examples are few of the hundreds of women I see who are making the same mistakes.

Wanting to position for Board opportunities but not leveraging LinkedIn as a key resource to achieve those ambitions.

But why is LinkedIn so important for women seeking Board roles?

Recently, I attended a WIMBIZ Board Ready Mentoring Session and one of the speakers, Dr. Okey Nwuke, FCA, Chairman of the Board, Access Pension Fund Custodian said

?"The?last?test of suitability for potential Board of Directors comes from the review of your?social?media?handle."

These are the facts.

In these days of 'Google' your digital brand could be a key obstacle standing between you and a potential Board opportunity.?

Imagine, your name being discussed for a potential Board opportunity only for it to be googled and nothing of significance comes up. Meanwhile, you have decades of expertise solving challenging issues for diverse organizations.?

?Now that would be a real shame.?

Just in case you are about to run to your LinkedIn profile to see just how Board ready it is, here are 3 signs your LinkedIn profile is NOT Board ready (plus what to do about it)

1. You don't?feel confident sharing it for a potential Board application

This is the first sign, if you are like Roselyn, and you know you'd be a little unsure (perhaps even embarrassed) to share your LinkedIn profile with your network or for a Board application, this is your sign that your LinkedIn Profile is certainly not Board ready

2. Your LinkedIn Profile does not demonstrate your Board Value.

Are you a Business Transformation leader with 25 years of experience working for multinationals across multiple regions? Or a seasoned CEO leading strategy execution?for FMCGs or are you an award winning Digital Transformation expert who has documented results driving change in financial institutions??

Does your LinkedIn profile demonstrate this??

Does it include your accomplishments??

Does it communicate your brand in a dynamic powerful way??

Does your Board readiness shine through??

If your answer is no, I don’t know, or I am not sure, this could be a sign that your LinkedIn profile isn’t Board ready.?

3. Your LinkedIn network does not attract or include people who are aware of your expertise and can recommend you for potential Board roles

How relevant is your network to your Board aspirations?

For many female executives I coach, they oscillate between accepting every request they receive to not accepting any and at least 80% do not have a strategy that attracts the right network and therefore keep fielding very random LinkedIn connection requests.

Any of this sound like you? Then this could be a sign that your LinkedIn profile is not Board ready?

What should you do?

I have created a complimentary LinkedIn Profile Board Ready quiz to help you access just how Board Ready your current LinkedIn profile is.?

Once you complete the quiz, you’ll receive your Board ready score, personalized recommendation from me on next steps as well as an e-guide which contains 19 strategic tips to help you build a board ready profile, all at no cost to you.

Click here to take the quiz

Hopefully this gets you well on your way to building visibility for your Board ambitions.?

Which of the 3 signs resonates with you the most?

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