Recently I was chatting with Robyn Watts who many of you will recognise from our Take the Lead series: Robyn has held various CEO and executive roles in the media sector and is now building a second career with a portfolio of board positions.  The purpose of Robyn's call was to discuss her candidacy for a board position at Unifem - which sphinxx is a corporate member of.  As a member of Unifem, I was only to happy to nominate Robyn for a board position in the current elections as I know her experience and expertise will be a terrific value add to the organisation.  If  you happen to be a voting member of Unifem I would encourage you to read Robyn's profile when you receive your voting papers and to consider voting for her in the ballot.

It got me thinking how easy it can be to make this happen.  In this network alone we have several thousand women, all well connected and happy to support one another... and to support the appointment of more women onto boards.  All we need to do is bandy together, notify one another if we're planning to run for a board position and support one another in the process. 

Is there a board you are considering running for and need help with a nomination?  If so, please drop me a line and I'd be happy to help in either making the nomination or - if I'm precluded from nominating you myself - putting a call out to the network to find someone who can.

Likewise, if you're looking for candidates for a board position I'd be happy to pass on suggestions of people in the sphinxx network who may fit the bill.  Yesterday I sent through a list of 5 top-notch qualified and experienced women who would be ideal for a new (paid) board position on an ASX100 company.  So if you're a recruiter looking - or you're looking to get on a board - don't be afraid to ask. 

As I'm always preaching in my presentations, 80% of jobs and board vacancies are filled before they're even advertised so it's not a matter of what you know, or who you know, but who knows you!