Plural careers prove to be a singular success

survey reveals portfolio execs value freedom and variety


Senior executives who have shed corporate life are satisfied, in control and enjoying the freedom and variety of an independent career, according to a new survey.

But while many donít want to return to conventional employment, they wish they had been better prepared before they jumped or were pushed off the corporate ladder.

The survey, carried out by IDDAS (Independent Direction Directors Advisory Service) in association with exec-appointments.com, questioned 213 senior executives who had left conventional employment - over two thirds of them voluntarily.

The majority (65 per cent) said they were very satisfied or satisfied with their success at establishing an independent career, rating the key benefits as: being in control over work and time; the variety and unpredictability of the work; and freedom from corporate agendas and politics.

Asked about their intentions since leaving a full time position, over 40 per cent put pursuing a non-executive portfolio first, while only 10 per cent put returning to conventional employment as a first choice.


However, the drawbacks to a portfolio career reveal a lack of preparedness. The three main obstacles to emerge were: the difficulty finding suitable roles (32 per cent); uncertainty (24 per cent); and the constant need to network (21 per cent).

The results also show that if they could turn back the clock and start over, many would do things differently. The majority said they would network and self-market more actively (35 per cent), consider a broader range of options (17 per cent) and choose roles/clients more carefully (16 per cent).

Garry Sharp, a director with IDDAS, said: ìI think the message that comes out of the survey is that people have to be quite selective when they are building a portfolio career. Itís not as easy as people think, it takes longer to establish and requires a great deal of planning, concerted networking and self-marketing.î

The reasons executives end up leaving conventional employment are a combination of pull and push. They include a desire for a better work-life balance, companies becoming leaner and the realisation that there is no such thing as a job for life. It is a trend that has been growing over the past decade and has accelerated over the last two or three years.

Sharp added: ìExecutives seeking to boost their independent career prospects should market themselves as a business proposition, and build up and maintain strong networks; be selective about the work and assignments they take on; and see their portfolio career as a long-term campaign which might take two years to establish.î

Betty Thayer, chief executive of exec-appointments.com, said: ìIn the past people used to leave corporate life when they were ill. Now more and more of them are leaving to stay healthy. They want a better way of life and see the independent route as the way to achieve it.



ìStepping off the corporate ladder isnít as scary as it used to be. Ten years ago people wouldnít have considered it, but now itís a more common option. What people need to know is that there are resources and networks out there to help them make the right choices.î


Case study 1
Elizabeth Filkin

Elizabeth Filkin, the former Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards who has just joined Jarvis as a non-executive director, began her plural career as a non-exec at the Britannia Building Society when she was in a full-time executive role.

ìLater, when I took on the role as The Adjudicator for the Inland Revenue and then Customs and Excise, they agreed to me continuing as a non-executive director. It was seen as helping to keep me informed about the issues facing business and helping me in the role of Adjudicator. I was adjudicating on complaints from individual tax payers and from business tax payers.

ìMy non-executive work has been and continues to be an important learning experience about other parts of the economy and other industries. I enjoy having a portfolio career because in each company or industry you go into you develop a totally new set of colleagues and friends, often with very different views of the world. It is new and challenging. You have to work at learning about that business. It can be hard going but it keeps you thinking. I find I am always trying to see whether what I have learned elsewhere can be offered to the business where I am a non-executive director.


ìCurrently, I am a non-exec director with Jarvis and senior non-executive director with Stanelco, the radio frequency applications company. In my career I had been in construction as a manager and was used to having a lot of engineers on my staff. That is an industry I know about but I am not knowledgeable about the technical aspects of radio frequency. I leave that to the professionals. But of course that is not the job of the non-executive director. The non-executive director is there to look after the wellbeing of the business as a whole.

ìThe non-exec role is to care for and look after the shareholders business and that means not only thinking about what is going to give the shareholders the best return in the short-term but what is going to develop the business and give a good return over a long period.

ìYou have to be able to take the long view. You have to keep an eye on the markets and competitors, care for the staff in the business, make sure they are developed, ensure the business is focused on new opportunities and new products, and that the business is properly governed. Sometimes it is also about being prepared to take some very hard decisions which are in the best interests of the future of the business.î

Elizabeth Filkin is a member of the IDDAS advisory panel


Case study 2
David Stewart

David Stewart is exactly where he wants to be. He has a broad portfolio career, he relishes being in control of his life and, in one area of his work, he feels heís ìputting something backî.

But Stewart is the first to admit that his journey - from corporate man to plural careerñ was initially haphazard.



ìWhen I started out I wasnít aware of the need to market myself. I had held senior roles in commercial and merchant banking for many years and had been in charge of large divisions. I thought finding something would be straightforward.î

Stewartís background in domestic and international banking included 25 years at board level, with senior positions at, the Nat West group, Hill Samuel, TSB and Abbey National. It was a radical change of strategy at Abbey that pushed him to a crossroads, where the choice was to live with the new regime or resign. He decided to quit.

ìI had always harboured an ambition to have a plural career and this was the moment to go for it. I went without any clear idea of what I was going to do. I went to a traditional outplacement firm. But while they are very good at assisting people with specific skills who want to move back into a similar job with another company, they are less well equipped to help people like me, who want to look at other options.

ìMy portfolio career started out in a rather unfocussed way. It was a combination of contacting old friends and past colleagues. But even this is a rather reactive process, because you are waiting for their call. Itís not proactive. To carve out a successful plural career, you have to look at where you want to be, what you want to do and target appropriately. You have to market yourself, work out what your selling points are and network widely.î

Stewartís first step on the portfolio ladder was to become a senior advisor to the Financial Services Authority, as one of the small group of so-called ìgrey panthersî who have had long career experience in the financial services industry. Subsequently he became non-executive chairman of banking and asset finance firm, Broadcastle plc and is a non-executive director of chartered surveyors, Fletcher King plc.


ìWhat you need ñ and this is something that the IDDAS approach addresses ñ is the opportunity to talk to people who have trodden the same path before you, who can tell you about the issues, the difficulties and the opportunities. They can draw on their own experiences, help with networking, provide a sounding board and smooth out the whole process.

ìI find non-executive director work very fulfilling, and my role with the FSA gives me a feeling of being able to put something back and enabling other people to benefit from my experience. I have control of my life and that is what I wanted most from a plural career.î

David Stewart is a mentor with IDDAS.

www.iddas.com