In each issue of C-Suite magazine, we highlight stories of public company board members who have started their first directorship within the past two years, providing perspectives and impressions of their new roles.
This article is brought to you through a collaboration between Georgeson, KPMG, Semler Brossy and the Equilar Diversity Network (EDN). Learn more at www.equilar.com/diversity.
What was your path to joining the Nasdaq board of directors, and how did you know it was the right fit?
Melissa Arnoldi: I’d wanted to serve on a board to diversify my knowledge, gain expertise outside of technology and ultimately understand how boards work.
Initially my CEO introduced me to a director at Nasdaq, and I was excited for the opportunity to work with high-caliber, experienced directors. Adena [Friedman, Nasdaq’s CEO] and others are making sure that the board is collaborative, open and trustworthy, and has a different set of skills. Given that my background is in technology—and at the end of the day, Nasdaq is a fintech company—I felt I could add value quickly and apply to that industry.
Ultimately, I decided it was a company that I felt strongly I could get behind, and there is a benefit to sitting side by side with a female CEO in action. It’s exciting to see her excel in the way she manages the boardroom and her team.
Have there been any surprises in terms of what you expected from the responsibilities of a public company director?
Arnoldi: Of course, directorship comes with a high degree of responsibility, and you need to be thoughtful and diligent about aligning yourself with a company and becoming passionate about it. That may not be a surprise, but it takes a lot of preparation. There is lot of pre-work to study and understand that business, and if you’re going to advise against strategy or governance, you need to have done your homework. You need to know how to weigh in on that from day one, which is an immediate reminder of the fiduciary responsibility you have.
One pleasant surprise is how supportive this board is of one another. There had not been many new board members before me in the past few years, and one more has joined since. They have a framework that pairs new board members with existing directors.
What advice would you impart to other executives seeking their first board seats?
Arnoldi: I met with a couple of board recruiting companies, and while that is an important stage in the process, I found that they were interested in recruiting women to join boards … if they have board experience already. So I found personally that relationships really helped me, and recruiting goes hand in hand with networking.
My other advice is not to just take the first board offer that comes your way. Be thoughtful about it. It must align with your interest, and you have to be confident that you can contribute to the discussion, even if it’s an area in which you don’t have history.
Finally, when you get on the board, find a mentor. Find someone you can talk to offline. You are all coming from different places potentially, and you have to build those relationships.
Melissa Arnoldi, President, Technology & Operations, AT&T Communications, a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T Inc., is responsible for technology development, network deployment and operations, and AT&T’s transition to a software-defined and future 5G network. Arnoldi currently serves as a board member of Nasdaq and Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas.
How did you come across the opportunity to serve on the United Rentals board, and what led you to decide it was the right fit?
Shiv Singh: It started quite simply with me getting an email from a recruiter. I’ve advised private companies in the past, but never a public board, so I said yes, I’d love to learn more.
The story of my interview is funny. I had to be in Singapore the day before. I flew home to San Francisco for three hours, went to the airport and then straight to New York. When I met with the chairman, she asked whether I had any questions. Perhaps it was because I was horribly jet-lagged and completely exhausted, but to my surprise, I asked why they were interested in me. I was at least 10 years younger than the youngest board member, I didn’t have experience in construction or rentals, and my career is in tech and marketing on a global scale, not as much in domestic markets where they operate.
She said those are the exact reasons why they wanted to talk to me. And I was really impressed with the way they thought, the culture and the values. They wanted me because I can connect with an employee workforce in a way that’s different, considering my perspective on youth, marketing and innovation. The other thing that stood out is that I wasn’t a “diversity candidate.” The board was already very diverse in terms of women and minorities. They saw my contribution as more of diversity of opinion than anything else.
Singh: Understanding the relationship and dynamics between management and the board has a lot more nuance than on private boards. Also, in my day job I’m an operator, and you have to step out of that—there is the shareholder responsibility from end to end that we have to the United Rentals investors. For a new board member, there’s very little that prepares you enough for it.
Also, I don’t have a deep finance or legal background, so that’s an ongoing education and journey. Finally, it’s been important for me to wrap my head quickly around the history of the company and decisions made by the board over the previous three- or four-year period at least. You don’t want to be going over old subjects, as you’re expected to add value from day one.
Singh: I would say the most important thing is to have a high degree of self-awareness on what you know and what you don’t know. Always consciously think about how you can be adding value to the shareholders in your service to the board and the company with a long view. It might seem obvious, but it really all comes down to that.
Mr. Singh is a senior vice president in the innovation and strategic partnerships group at Visa. In this role, he is also focused on guiding major Visa clients around the future of payments and their own go-to-market strategies. Prior to this, Mr. Singh served in various senior brand and marketing roles at Visa. Prior to joining Visa, Mr. Singh was the Global Head of Digital at PepsiCo Beverages, responsible for all digital engagement in paid, owned and social media across consumer marketing, shopper marketing and food service marketing. (Source: United Rentals, Inc. DEF 14A on Mar 26, 2018)