The Route to the Top – How to become a Company Secretary?

Company Secretary is an increasingly competitive profession. It takes a unique blend of skills and experiences to secure a senior position. Those interested will appreciate knowing what abilities to prioritise throughout a career and how to approach balancing behavioural, technical, and influencing skills.

In this podcast, Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Founder and Managing Partner, is joined by Glenn Oborne and Connor Simms, who are both Directors of Ingen Partners. They specialise in recruitment and consultancy for Company Secretaries, with over 20 years’ experience working with individuals at all levels. They understand in-house settings, including most kinds of listed, FCA-regulated and private limited businesses, and stay current on industry trends. They see their roles primarily as career advisers to professionals in this space, recently conducting a “career clinic” initiative to assist individuals in identifying their long-term career aims and mapping out a route to achieve them.

“There are no two roles in governance that are the same.”

As recruiters, Connor and Glenn know everyone wants that top job, but there is no one fixed path to it due to the variations and nuances within each business. Great Company Secretaries become sensitive to how each organisation adopts and interprets governance. There’s no individual who is 10 out of 10 in every area of operations and governance, yet those who understand how their strengths and limitations align with the needs and constraints of the business will go far.

“The big thing that differentiates those who achieve that top role is their ability to influence.”

At a base level, Company Secretaries need foundational technical skills, a good work ethic, and exceptional adaptability. However, as they rise through the ranks, savvy individuals recognise the value in cultivating relationships, working on emotional intelligence, and gaining exposure to different situations and group dynamics. The role evolves beyond pure technical savvy and into softer skills.

There’s no fixed textbook way to do it, but building breadth of experience and gaining opportunities to build trust, influence, and guide business stakeholders will elevate certain candidates over others. Showing an ability to delegate, build networks, and make an impact is also key.

“The best company secretaries out there are chameleons.”

Each board and business operate in a different way. It’s the role of the Company Secretary to be able to have a wide array of hats to put on when dealing with different stakeholders and different departments, because each one has different expectations and needs. Secretaries must act as translators and navigators between key stakeholders.

Top Company Secretaries also learn from every engagement they have – good, bad, or indifferent – and use this learning to expand their toolkits. Technical expertise is secondary to openness to fresh experience and an ability to integrate that experience into ever-increasing skill, awareness, and quality of job performance. Tools like AI can make production faster and help smart Secretaries manage volume, but the ultimate differentiator between the best and the rest is human discernment, tactful discretion, and a comfort and confidence in dealing with complexity and the unknown.

 

The top three takeaways from our conversation for effective boards are:

• It’s not what you know, it’s who you know and who you can be in front of through your network.
• Invest in the next generation of talent by being a sponsor or mentor.
• Push the ladder back down and lift others up.

 

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