Top tips for aspiring women directors

By JULIE MIDDLETON

Women who've made it to the top give their tips for aspiring directors.

PATSY REDDY

Reddy, whose directorships include Telecom, Sky City and Infinity Group, trained as a lawyer. Reddy, in her mid-40s, was a law lecturer at Victoria University and a senior executive at Brierley Investments from 1986 to 1998.

top tip: for would-be woman directors: "There's a large amount of luck involved in becoming director of a major public company, but you can enhance it by having qualifications and experience in one of the professional sectors, such as accounting or law."

THERESA GATTUNG

Gattung, whose directorships include Telecom and Independent Newspapers, has degrees in law and management studies with majors in marketing and economics. Gattung, 41, moved up through Telecom's ranks and became its chief executive in 1999.

top tip:: "Aspiring board members need to have done the hard yards in the sector in question so they understand first-hand the opportunities and risks."

JOAN WITHERS

Withers, whose directorships include Auckland International Airport, The Warehouse, Tourism Holdings and Meridian Energy, is 49.

top tip: "Get a managing director or chief executive role before thinking of getting on to a board."

KERRIN VAUTIER

Vautier, whose directorships include Fletcher Building, News and Media NZ and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, is 58. She also heads the advisory board of the University of Auckland's New Zealand Asia Institute.

top tip:: "You need a lively interest in, and knowledge of, business performance and corporate governance."

JANE FREEMAN

Freeman, whose directorships include Air New Zealand, Publicis Group, Sheffield, and St George Bank New Zealand is 40. She ran Microsoft-Telecom-EDS joint venture company esolutions and BankDirect, and has held senior positions at Clear Communications and ASB Bank.

top tip:: "Develop skills in strategic areas and marketing - these often complement existing skills."

SANDRA MORAN

Moran who tells Career, laughing, that she's ageless, is a director of INL. She is also the deputy chair of the medical practitioners' disciplinary tribunal, the Wellington barrister and solicitor has been on the INL board since 1985.

top tip:: "If you are keen to be on a particular board, be thoroughly familiar with the industry the company operates in, have proven business acumen, and raise your profile."

SUE SUCKLING

Suckling, 46, is chairwoman of Agriquality NZ and the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and a director of several private companies, including WestpacTrust Investments. A Christchurch-based director and consultant, she has a masters degree in food technology and marketing.

top tip:: "Seek commercial responsibility and deliver results."

ROSANNE MEO

Meo, 56, is chairwoman of Briscoe Group and the AMP New Zealand advisory board, deputy chair of debt collector Baycorp Advantage, and a director of various companies, among them Ports of Auckland.

top tip:: "Develop a breadth of knowledge - it's not enough to just know your own industry."

ALISON PATERSON

Paterson, 67, is chairwoman of state farmer Landcorp Farming and the Electricity Complaints Commission. Her directorships include The Reserve Bank, Wrightson, Metrowater and Eldercare, and she is a member of the Market Surveillance Panel. Her first appointment was at the Apple and Pear Board, as Enza was then known, in 1976.

top tip:: "You have to be the best you can be at what you do: how else will you score the opportunities to perform at a higher level?"

FRAN WILDE

Wilde, 54, a former Labour cabinet minister and Wellington mayor, is chair of Wellington Waterfront and the New Zealand International Arts Festival Trust and on the boards of ANZ Banking Group and Hawkes Bay Tourism, among others.

top tip:: "I've learned from experience not to be afraid to ask what might appear to be dumb questions."