Gunslinger of Choice or Corporate Hired Gun

You are currently in the Corporate world self-reflecting with increasing frequency over your ambition to extend your professional career into the Boardroom world and speculating on how to successfully do it?

If so, then you will need to transform yourself from being a “Corporate Hired Gun (CHG)” into a “Gunslinger of Choice (GoC)", as the two roles while respectively important, influence changes and outcomes in different ways.

The next three questions will likely manifest repeatedly in your transformation journey, and I will only offer a contextually, simplistic view on each for your consideration –

• What’s the difference between a CHG and GoC?

The CHG is a member of the organization’s executive team and is tasked to find viable answers to questions posed by others

The GoC is a Board member and is the one asking the questions

• How does each influence changes and outcomes?

The CHG’s role is a combination of being primarily operationally focused with a strategic overlay

The GoC’s role is primarily strategically focused with minimal, if any, operational overlay

• Why does it matter to your Boardroom aspirations?

As an operational executive, the CHG is engaged by only one organization at any given time and provides their operational value-add accordingly

As a strategic Board member, the GoC may be concurrently engaged by a number of organizations and provides their strategic value-add accordingly.