In Touch Networks Highlight Tony’s Journey with Them

As part of the regular In Touch Network blog on member success stories, they have featured Tony with the attached article. This recognises his interaction with the network and his successful entry into the independent director community.

Tony Evans has been a C-suite interim CEO for 20 years, whilst creating a legacy as a business owner and a non-executive director, supporting various businesses in transformation and turnaround. Tony specialises in working with complex organisations, helping them through transformation whilst supporting restructuring, profitable growth and sales where appropriate.

Tony came across In Touch through an internet search and after a discussion with an In Touch director, his interest in a change of career direction was sparked. He decided that he should move away from purely managed executive roles and instead put his energies into building an independent portfolio, with the support of In Touch.

What has Tony achieved since being with In Touch?

After joining the network, Tony completed the In Touch Accelerator programme, which reinforced and refreshed his knowledge in key areas, as a non-executive director. Tony says:

“The programme helped me understand what is important from a leadership perspective as an independent director, whilst rethinking how I go about presenting myself in a unique way.”

Tony explains how the course has expanded his network of like-minded professionals who have supported each other’s development:

“I’ve stayed in contact with the members on this course to create a small community, helping one another build our knowledge and understanding of the NED world.”

Tony also discussed different aspects of his journey through In Touch which have influenced him to look at other opportunities such as coaching and mentoring. Tony recently began the Corporate Coach International programme, an accredited Institute of Leadership and Management level 7 coaching qualification delivered by In Touch’s expert coaches and facilitators, which he is sure will help him launch his own coaching business. He felt he wanted to reinforce his training and mentoring skills and develop a broader professional competency around executive coaching and mentoring.

Tony found In Touch really helped open up opportunities to him in various sectors and he is “extremely happy” with the development content he has used to boost his knowledge and build on his interim executive career and experience as a board director.

What advice would you give an aspiring NED?

Firstly, Tony explains that it is crucial to be clear about your personal brand before applying for non-executive roles:

“You need to firstly take your time to decide how you want to position and market yourself, what you have to offer businesses as a non-executive or advisor.”

Tony also explains that while the NED world is very strategy-focussed, encouragingly you may have already been building your non-executive skill sets, whilst being involved in the day-to-day business at a senior level.

“Your daily executive role may share many responsibilities with a non-executive role – as long as you translate these skills and experiences to the interviewer a recruiter, you should be able to demonstrate your suitability,” And he adds: “This process will also identify any expertise gaps which need to be filled before the leap to the non-executive world.”

Tony strongly believes that you have to put in the hard yards when looking for your first NED role: “Investing time in actively searching for that NED role has a number of benefits, including opening up the future option of converting to a portfolio career and in the nearer term, improving your executive performance through exposure to fresh perspectives and situations”

What’s next for Tony?

Whilst Tony continues to build his non-executive expertise and understanding using the In Touch resources, he hopes to source NED work through the jobs board and expand his portfolio. He is “excited and eager” to become a ILM7 qualified coach and has a number of coaching assignments lined up, which will commence on completion of the CCI course.

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