When you hear the title Advisory Board, you’d think it is some fancy role that mandates how things should be done or how a company must be run. To some degree, this is true.

Advisory board members provide high-quality advice to senior management and the board of directors, but we hold no formal power or authority. We are not company directors, have no fiduciary responsibilities, and are not exposed to legal liabilities. We are for advice, not governance, and do not approve critical decisions of the company, and our decisions are not binding.

That said, I’d like to share my personal experiences, journey, and how I personally navigate the challenging and fulfilling world of the Advisory Board.

Forging the Corporate Development Path
Twenty-two years of running and growing my own company (Contentserv) and expanding internationally in 13 countries has taught me what path leads to success and what should be left alone. For every advisory, I take these valuable lessons to craft a solid plan for scale-up and growth. I find that this phase is where my strength is. This phase is about strategizing how a company can quickly expand to other markets and grow internationally. This is often a make-or-break phase, where the company must establish the right strategy in sales and marketing.

I know that the growth path is laden with challenges left and right, and it’s messy and it can be scary. In my advisory board mandates, I try to make the path of corporate development a little easier and more efficient for companies.

I forged my tried and tested advisory principles when it comes to advisory and helping companies in the following areas:

• Questions about strategy in global or national corporate growth and scaling
• Financing and crisis management (e.g., help create the right pitch deck, mental and structural support for restructuring, etc.)
• Marketing and Sales (conception of the marketing and sales strategy, development of analysts, efficient campaign management, financeable sales scaling, cloud sales processes, customer experience management, etc.)
• HR (e.g., coaching on the specific topics of skills shortages and differentiation via employer branding, finding & selecting executives, building a corporate culture, …)

One vital aspect of corporate development close to my heart, advocacy, if you must, is working with female CEOs and executives. I particularly enjoy giving women mental and active support based on my experience. As women, we often have more significant career challenges than our male colleagues. Finding the right work-life balance or dealing with the “workplace alpha” are some of those challenges. Unfortunately, women are still a long way from gender equality and equal opportunities, so it is particularly motivating for me to make a small contribution to ensuring that female managers advance faster and do not have to walk this path alone.

My Advisory Work and How it Started
I have a certain number of hours or days per month in my advisory. This ranges from quarterly meetings to weekly, fixed meetings in which I support the company in operational and strategic issues. In these meetings, companies like to ask strategic questions, and I use various solution scenarios to prepare them specifically for the company and market requirements. I think it’s essential to be with the company over many years because the better I know the market, its needs, and the company in all its facets, the more precisely I can help. It becomes easier and easier to design the right solution.

In my advisory board companies, there are usually also urgent coordination or questions that arise from the operative business and that have to be solved quickly. My advisory board mandate is, therefore, very varied, and I have to react flexibly to various challenges.

I see myself as a companion, just as my advisor Klaus Hofmann accompanied me on my Contentserv journey for 15 years. I knew Klaus as a customer initially until it became clear that he was someone who could support me with his wealth of experience. As a member of the board of directors of the German Stock Exchange, Bertelsmann, and many other well-known companies, he structured many operational topics that would be essential for Contentserv’s corporate development. His experience, group-proven structure, and valuable external perspective have helped me immensely over the years.

This faithful companion and friend were always there when I needed help. As a result, I have never felt alone in my challenges as CEO of Contentserv. We discussed Contentserv’s strategic course in many meetings and parallel lunches. Klaus always continued the topics with the managers, monitored their implementation, and then shared the reports with me. That gave me operational freedom to concentrate on customers and sales, for example. I am sure that he also enjoyed the advisory board mandate with Contentserv and me because we were anything but boring with “growing pains” of 30% plus per year.

How I Like to Function as an Advisory Board Member
Fun and success are usually closely linked, and I see it as an essential aspect that I enjoy the mandate and can bring the company forward with my advice and action. This is the case with companies that want to grow strongly internationally through marketing and sales and need a clear digital strategy. I want my advisory board companies to have a good relationship with me and feel supported in many aspects.

One crucial aspect that must be front and center is the human facet. After all, the Advisory Board is a friend of the company management, whom everyone should trust and with whom you can let yourself go. A good advisory board knows how difficult it is to run a company and that every CEO needs an outlet for whining and venting anger. Advisory board members are ideal for these situations because we understand the problems and can quickly formulate the solutions.

It’s okay to be human. That’s why I see my task as an advisory board member in creating a work-life balance for CEOs and managers. Mediation between the CEO and executives can also be an issue since the top management often does not have the time for the necessary sensitivity and an open ear. Making the path easier, whenever necessary, is part of my function as an advisory board member.

In summary, my advisory board mandates give me a lot of pleasure, especially when we can look back together at the end of a financial year and be proud of everything that we achieved. As a female advisor, I like to go the extra mile and help where I am needed. The role of an advisory board member is a fulfilling task for me, for which I would like to thank my advisory board companies!