Think you know what boards are looking for in 2026? Most leaders are getting it wrong. Athena’s recent conversation with Dana Etra and Cory Munchbach uncovers the real signals of a high-value board candidate today.
In 2026, boards aren’t just looking for “the former CEO with a great Rolodex.”
They’re navigating AI disruption, volatile markets, culture wars, and a workforce that has fundamentally changed since 2020. The candidates who stand out aren’t simply the most decorated on paper; they’re the ones who show up with curiosity, judgment, and range.
That came through loud and clear in Athena’s salon, What Defines a High-Value Board Candidate Moving Into 2026, with board advisor Dana Etra and operator–director Cory Munchbach. Drawing on experience across public, private equity–backed, and nonprofit boards, they reframed what “board-ready” really means in this moment.
Below are 10 ways to become a high-value board candidate for 2026, not just a “qualified” one.
If there was one phrase Cory said she’d repeat “ten times” in a board context, it was this: genuine curiosity.
High-value board members don’t show up to prove how much they know. They assume they don’t have full context because, as a director, you never do.
Curiosity in the boardroom looks like:
As Cory put it, almost everything you say as a director should come in the form of a question. The goal isn’t to cross-examine; it’s to uncover what’s really going on so you can help management see around corners.
Board-value move for 2026: Practice curiosity as a discipline in your current role. In your exec meetings, experiment with asking one more question before offering a solution.
Nothing makes a CEO tune out faster than a board member who just parrots something from the latest business article and calls it advice.
Boards in 2026 have limited patience for generic “best practices.” They want principles that have been earned through experience.
Dana and Cory described a powerful sequence:
Experience → Skills → Principles
You lived through the pandemic? That’s the experience.
You learned to lead through extreme uncertainty and vulnerability? That’s the skill.
You can now articulate your decision rules for balancing people, risk, and performance during crises? Those are the principles you bring to a board.
This is the leap from operator to director: you’re no longer there to run the play, you’re there to expose your decision logic so others can adapt it to their context.
Board-value move for 2026: Take 2–3 major “unprecedented” moments from the last five years and write down the principles you now apply because of them. Those become boardroom assets.
Boards are human systems first, governance bodies second.
Dana talked about noticing things like the CFO’s eye roll when the CEO speaks, or the CMO who seems totally checked out. Those small cues reveal power dynamics, misalignment, and risk long before they show up in the metrics.
Reading the room means you’re paying attention to:
This isn’t “political gossip.” It’s data. High-value board members use it to shape how they ask questions, when they press, and when they simply plant a seed and step back.
Board-value move for 2026: In your next board or executive-style setting, devote one full segment to observing only dynamics—not content. Ask yourself: What did I learn about how this system really works?
In the past, board guidance, especially for women, often sounded like: “Pick your lane. Be the cyber expert, the DEI expert, the sustainability guru.”
Today, that’s incomplete.
Boards still care about your domain, but what differentiates you is your portable skills and how you’ve evolved them through recent shocks. Cory framed it beautifully:
Board-value move for 2026: Rewrite your board bio so every major experience includes the portable skill and principle you now apply because of it.
Boards are no longer eager to add single-issue specialists who “only do AI” or “only do ESG.” In Dana’s words, she’s watched “the world’s leading expert on something” flail in the boardroom because they couldn’t connect their expertise to the broader business.
The sweet spot for 2026: hybrid operators who combine depth with breadth:
Boards need people who can see the forest and the trees, who can connect technology, people, risk, and strategy into one coherent storyline.
Board-value move for 2026: Audit your portfolio of experience. Where can you layer on adjacent exposure, such as AI, cyber, talent, or compensation, so you show up as a “broad operator,” not just a functional lead?
“Devil’s advocate” energy may feel intellectually rigorous, but in a boardroom, it can be toxic.
Dana described the all-too-familiar director who criticizes everything. By the time they speak, everyone else is secretly checking their phones, even when the director is technically right.
High-value board members in 2026 bring calm, not combat:
Cory also highlighted an important nuance: courage in the boardroom often looks less like crusading and more like quiet integrity and humility, being clear about what you don’t know, and walking away from boards where you fundamentally disagree with the direction.
Board-value move for 2026: Practice reframing “gotcha” questions into open, neutral ones:
Instead of: “Why haven’t you fixed churn yet?”
Try: “What have you tried on churn so far, and what’s been most/least effective?”
Some of the most valuable board members Cory worked with didn’t just show up prepared for the meeting; they showed up between meetings.
That might look like:
This is where being a trusted advisor comes in. If the CEO never calls you between meetings, you’re probably not in the top tier of directors, no matter how sharp you are in the room.
Board-value move for 2026: Start behaving like a board-level advisor in your current ecosystem. Offer discrete, high-value support to peers and CEOs in your network between formal touches.
Here’s where the conversation got refreshingly blunt.
If your primary goal is “get on a board, any board,” you’re setting yourself (and that company) up for disappointment.
Both Dana and Cory emphasized fit:
Dana shared an example of turning down a public company board seat when she realized she couldn’t bring what that specific company truly needed. That level of honesty about the value you can actually add is part of being a high-value candidate.
Board-value move for 2026: Write a one-page “board fit” profile: the stages, industries, ownership structures, and strategic contexts where your experience is truly catalytic. Use it as a filter, not a wish list.
This one may be the most provocative and the most freeing.
If what you really want is to drive sustainability, DEI, or a particular social agenda, a board might not be the best place to do it right now. Cory was clear: boards are not, in this moment, richly rewarded for courage. Many are still heavily constrained by quarterly earnings pressure and activist noise.
That doesn’t mean those issues don’t matter. It means you need to be honest about:
Sometimes, the most values-aligned move is to channel your energy into an operating role, a fund, a nonprofit, or a movement where your agenda is central, not number 87 on the priority list.
Board-value move for 2026: Ask yourself: If I couldn’t put “Board Director” in my bio, would I still want to do this work with this company? If the answer is no, that’s useful data.
If there’s one area where board expectations have quietly exploded, it’s succession and talent.
Dana has seen the time spent on CEO and N-2 pipelines increase dramatically. Boards are expected to:
High-value directors are talent-literate. They can read leading indicators of culture and capability, engagement, regrettable attrition, hotline trends, succession depth, and connect them to strategy and risk.
If your last decade has been in DEI, ESG, or employee wellbeing, this is your opportunity. As Dana pointed out, if you bring it back to 30,000 feet, what boards really value is talent strategy and culture stewardship, especially in a world of hybrid work and AI-driven role shifts.
Board-value move for 2026: Deepen your understanding of structured succession planning and assessment. Be ready to talk about how you’ve built diverse pipelines and future-ready talent in your own organizations.
Moving into 2026, the highest-value board candidates will be those who can:
If you’re an Athena member, you’re likely already building this Portfolio of Impact™, leading through the unprecedented, stewarding people and performance, shaping the future of your industries.
The next step is packaging that impact in a way that serves the boardroom of now: curiosity-first, principle-driven, and deeply human.
© Athena Alliance 2025
