Recently, I was pleased to be interviewed by Maureen Farmer, the Founder & CEO of Westgate Executive Branding & Career Consulting Inc., an international personal branding and career consulting firm delivering premier executive branding and career consulting services for high-profile leaders.

Here is an excerpt of our conversation. Head on over to Maureen’s blog to read the full piece.

Maureen Farmer: How was the board interview different from other types of interviews?

Jonathan Bennett: By way of setting the context, I’ve recently joined two privately held, for-profit boards. They were, in fact, quite similar.

I found both experiences strong in process. There were multiple interviews. The first with the Board Chair and one or two other Directors; then a 1:1 with the CEO; and in one case I then also met with the primary shareholder. When I was offered the Director position, I was phoned by the Board Chair. They kept to their timelines and communicated well throughout, so I knew where things stood. The meetings all happened during COVID and so they were all virtual.

MF: What was different?

JB: They were conversations and they were generative. I know they had a list of questions, but it flowed easily, and, in several cases, my own responses/background took them to some surprising places. I found them to be curious and eager to really get to know me on a human level.

MF: What surprised you the most during the selection process?

JB: We touched on some of my previous board experience and qualifications, but they were looking for my thoughts, advice, opinions on current business issues they were facing. At the conclusion of one of the interviews, I said with some regret, I feel like I haven’t really talked about my board experience or credentials. The Board Chair simply responded, “that’s table stakes. We want to know how you think and the things you really care about.” That really resonated with me because I knew then that these were people who had aligned values with me, and were interested in social purpose business in the same way I am.

MF: How do you recommend others to prepare for a board interview?

JB: Package up, and rehearse, your best executive and board stories so they are tight and powerful. Don’t forget to allow in emotionally resonate, or vulnerable moments (what you learned, or would do differently)—it’ll make them more memorable.

Figure out the problem they are trying to solve with this Board position. What gap do they have? What business problem are they facing? Position yourself as the solution to it. This is your value proposition. It needs to be framed concretely for them—it’s not about you. Join the dots, explicitly, between their problem(s) and your experience. Don’t leave it up to them to do that work—they might get it wrong. Make those connections clear and, frankly, blunt.

Read the full piece here and learn more about how Maureen helps leaders land their next role.