It depends. Advisors are selected and serve at the pleasure of the CEO as an advisory board is a non-legal board. As someone who has served as an advisory board facilitator for many years and participant, I have observed situations where the advisors have served as long as the advisory board has been in existence and others for a one-year term.
The term will be determined by the CEO knowing what they need to get from their advisory board. For instance:
- If the purpose of the advisory board is to provide guidance on the launch of a major new product line and the advisors are all marketing types, some of them will not continue to serve past the product launch.
- In the case where the advisors have more diverse backgrounds, they may serve a longer term as long as they remain relevant to what the company and CEO need.
Continued clarity around vision and mission of the organization will aid the CEO in determining if the right people are serving as advisors. Conducting an annual evaluation where both the CEO and advisors review the work of the advisory board will also aid the CEO in making a determination about any or all of the advisors.
Lastly, I advise the CEOs I work with to conduct an annual one-on-one meeting with each advisor. This will further assist both parties in evaluating just how long an advisor should serve.
If you have served on an advisory board, how long has your term been?
Want to learn how to establish an advisory board? Check out the Advisory Board Kit: A Comprehensive Guide to Establishing an Advisory Board.
This got me thinking…in your experience do advisory board members migrate to becoming an actual board member?
Reiko,
Good question. The answer is it depends. If the company’s stated intention when starting the advisory board was to get used to having some type of board then it is very possible someone serving on the advisory board could be come a member of the board of directors. Remember, an advisory board is a non-legal body whereas a board of directors has a legal responsibility.
In forming the board of directors the company would want to go through a similar process to what I recommend in the Advisory Board Kit for determining who to elect as directors.