My contribution to a board
My contribution would be to connect a company's public offer with the work and authority behind it. I have spent time on both sides of that relationship: coordinating tasks after a promise was made and later deciding which promises should be promoted. I could help directors examine whether growth assumptions depend on capacity that management has not yet secured, whether commercial measures recognise the person receiving a service and whether channel economics include the work outside marketing. Those questions belong alongside financial, legal and sector expertise, not in place of it. I would learn the prospective company's own obligations before applying a familiar example. A board should not become a committee for approving individual advertisements. It should understand how management tests consequential claims and responds when evidence challenges a preferred plan. My experience could help make that system of judgement visible, including the commercial cost of a responsible refusal and the evidence needed to reconsider it later.
My first year on a board
I would begin with the company's service model and the sequence from public promise to customer agreement and delivery. Through the chair's induction process I would meet relevant commercial, operating, finance and legal colleagues and read recent investment and risk papers. I would examine a campaign or expansion decision that changed after challenge, asking how the board heard the revised case. I would also learn how the company defines contribution and how service effort appears in that account. During the first year I would pay attention to whether directors receive useful distinctions between enquiries, bookings, revenue and suitable completed service. I would avoid directing the marketing team or bringing a preferred campaign format from my current role. Feedback from the chair would help me test whether my questions improve collective oversight. By the end of the year I would want a grounded view of the business's promise, its delivery constraints and the practical demands of the appointment.
Conflicts and their management
Selqavi's referral partners, service suppliers, investors and regional competitors would need review alongside my own financial interests and relevant family relationships. An apparently different consumer business might share a referral channel or supplier that creates a material overlap. I would seek employer consent and qualified advice before receiving protected commercial material. I would not use a board appointment to learn another company's acquisition costs, customer circumstances or expansion plans for Selqavi's benefit. Relationships can change, so disclosure should continue after appointment. If recurring conflicts would remove me from the decisions for which my experience was sought, I would question whether the seat is workable. Repeated withdrawal is not a substitute for considering that problem at the outset. The chair and advisers should have enough context to assess the relationship without being asked to rely only on my confidence that I can remain impartial.
My independence statement
I would disclose employment, investments, relevant family connections and Selqavi's business relationships for a company-specific independence assessment. Applicable Companies Act conditions, SEBI LODR requirements where relevant, committee responsibilities and directorship limits need qualified review. Neither my executive experience nor databank registration establishes independence or eligibility for an unspecified seat.
Judgement in practice
01A smaller launch preserved the operating decision
Operations cleared seven of eleven proposed locality clusters. I limited the campaign to those seven and accepted a modelled ₹1.9 crore of first-year revenue deferred from the others. As a director I would ask whether management has distinguished market opportunity from the capacity to fulfil the offer. A forecast should show the assumptions that depend on another function's readiness, and the people responsible should be able to challenge them before promotion begins. I would not use a larger market estimate to overrule an operating acceptance decision. Nor would I treat readiness as proof of perfect delivery. The board needs an understandable relationship between the proposed growth, the resources supporting it and the point at which the plan should be reconsidered if those conditions change.
02The central promise outweighed the preparation already paid for
We withdrew the 'always there' campaign and wrote off ₹31 lakh because its likely meaning exceeded our scheduled non-clinical service. I would bring a board the habit of separating money already spent from evidence that a proposal remains appropriate. The financial consequence should be stated, but it should not become a reason to suppress a material concern. Directors can examine who has authority to question a claim, when operations contributes and how management records disagreement. I would also ask what the organisation learned about its earlier approval process. The objective is a better decision system, rather than a dramatic story about one cancelled campaign. A company should be able to change its mind after investment without hiding either the concern or the cost.
Committee contribution
Chair and member readiness| Capacity | Committees |
|---|
| Ready to join | Strategy or risk oversight after induction into the service model |
|---|
Board and committee exposure
Presented to the Board or a committee
Selqavi Home Support
Full board by invitation on marketing investment, service claims and regional expansion
April 2022 – Present
I present commercial plans and significant claim or channel decisions as CMO. Directors question the proposal and decide within their authority; I am an invited executive, not a director or committee member, and have no board vote.
Capacity and preferences
- Time available
- 22 days per year
- Current directorships
- 0
- Sectors
- Household and community services · Consumer services with recurring relationships · Healthcare-adjacent support without clinical or competitive conflicts
- Company type
- An established service company with a board willing to examine the operating meaning of its brand promises
- Company stage
- Expanding regionally or reassessing how it acquires and serves suitable customers
The seat I am pursuing
I am considering one first non-executive seat in a service company where a grounded commercial perspective would complement the board's existing expertise. I could contribute to strategy or risk work after learning the business and committee responsibilities, but I would not seek a chair position immediately. Twenty-two days per year is provisional and must cover preparation, meetings, visits and exceptional demands, with employer agreement. I have no current directorship. My February 2026 databank registration has not yet been followed by a passed assessment, and applicable requirements must be completed rather than implied away. I would welcome a board that wants to discuss the cost of an unsuitable promise as seriously as the opportunity in a new market. A role seeking clinical advice, routine campaign management or access to my employer's protected relationships would fall outside the contribution I can responsibly offer.
Governance learning and readiness
IICA Independent Directors’ Databank: Registered
Within this fictional career I registered with India's independent directors databank in February 2026. I have not passed its proficiency assessment and have not established an exemption. I would complete the applicable requirements within the required period with appropriate advice; registration is one preparation step, not a completed appointment assessment.
- Board presentations since April 2022 have required me to explain marketing expenditure, claim changes and the commercial consequences of operating constraints.
- I am preparing in directors' duties, financial reporting and collective risk judgement, with attention to the difference between challenging a commercial plan and running the function. No completed director qualification is claimed.