An executive CV records management responsibilities and career achievements. A board biography should instead show how that experience would support collective oversight, independent judgement and the work of the board, using evidence that an appointing body can assess without a separate explanation.
Where to start
- Lead with your proposed contribution to the board, then present relevant governance experience and evidence of the scale, complexity and consequences of your work.
- Include formal and informal governance experience, distinguishing positions carrying statutory duties from advisory appointments or other roles without the same legal authority.
- Align your public profile with the biography, then ask a serving director or trusted adviser whether each presents a clear and credible case when read separately.
Ask yourself
- Does my public profile show how my experience is relevant to governance, not only to an executive position?
- Can I support every material claim with examples or evidence?
- Could a chair or owner understand and share my biography without an accompanying explanation?
What you keep A one-page board biography and a public profile that support the same case for appointment.
In practice Because a prospective director's biography may circulate before the candidate meets those making the appointment, its claims should be specific, accurate and capable of being supported by referees or other evidence.
The board bio builder
Use the builder to prepare a one-page biography that sets out your proposed contribution to board oversight, then export it for editing.