In my last article, Attracting Top Talent to your Board (CF&P, December 15, 2009), one of the points made was that top talent will assess and scrutinize an opportunity to sit on a board as diligently as they might any management position. But what criteria and issues do they look at in that assessment?

Recently I had the great pleasure of chatting with Rem Langan, a top performer from the marketing and communications field. He brings with him a wealth of experience from his key roles in one of the world’s most successful companies. His senior roles in marketing and communications include stints as chief marketing officer, then VP for McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada Limited, and as president & CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC).

Rem is currently chairman of RMHC and is at a point in his career where he doesn’t have to do anything. But, like many top performers, there is still a lot he wants to do. He is adept at developing and implementing strategy, creative, insightful and – most important – still passionate and interested in helping great organizations.

Think First is just such an organization. 

During Rem’s time working with RMHC and the organizations it supports, he met Dr. Charles Tator, one of North America’s foremost neurosurgeons and founder of Think First, an organization committed to creating “a future free of traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries among our children and youth.”

Rem got to know Charles as a very inspiring and gifted man with a passion for preventing the types of injuries that he so often saw on the operating table. When Charles approached Rem to sit on the board, Rem had one very important question. “Can I contribute?” 

In determining the extent to which his skill and experience could add value to the efforts of the other volunteers and staff at Think First, Rem identified three areas of consideration. 

The vision, the founder

Rem found two things truly appealing: the founder of Think First, and his vision to put an end to catastrophic head and neck injury in kids’ sports. “I really look up to Dr. Tator,” Rem says. “Not only is he one of Canada’s most recognized neurosurgeons, he’s also an incredibly inspiring and deeply passionate professional who is building something of lasting value to the community.

“Charles and I sat down and he told me about his vision, and I found a place in there where my skill and experience could add real value.”

Rem saw the organization and its work with catastrophic sports-related injury in kids as an important development in the world of sports that he cherished. “With five kids and my love of sports, this was something that is very important to me.” 

The time requirement

Even though his admiration for Charles and the work of Think First was important to him, Rem still felt that time was an issue he couldn’t ignore.

“If I was going to get involved,” he says, “I wanted to know I could get involved. Once you commit to do something, you need to be able to go to all ends to get it done.” 

Think First came to Rem with very clear expectations and a strategic plan. “I was able to assess what level of involvement would be required of me and felt it was quite manageable.” 

A member of the team

This coach, chairman and lifetime sports enthusiast believes, “It’s a team sport being on a board! There is no path to success that doesn’t include all of the board members supporting each other and the staff.” So it was important to Rem that the rest of the team would be one that he would be able to count on as much as they would count on him. 

“This board was (and is) made up of professionals who bring great expertise and who have extraordinary reputations in their respective arenas,” he says, “which made it an honor even to be asked.”

What gets individuals like Rem to the top of their game and keeps them there is the clear and high expectations that they have of themselves and others. Although the specifics might change from one individual to the next, the general principles are the same. When you’re looking for the best, bring your best and be ready for great things to happen!

Stephen Robinson is senior consultant responsible for the association, charity and not-for-profit portfolio at Derhak Ireland & Partners. Previously he was managing partner at RFG Direct, director, business development for Robinson, Fraser Group Ltd., and general manager for a small contracting business in Alberta and British Columbia. An avid volunteer, Stephen brings a passion for the search process and the identification of highly skilled and capable leadership. He truly believes in the power, energy and vigour that good people can bring to organizations doing exceptionally important work.

Stephen is working with the team at Derhak Ireland on the development of a comprehensive board registry to serve the not-for-profit sector at the community, provincial and national levels.