10 minutes with… Rob DiMonte
Rob DiMonte is one of the most experienced and trusted board directors in Adelaide. Business Insight asked him about not-for-profit governance and where he finds the time to sit on so many boards.
You’re on quite the number of boards – firstly, where do you find the time?
This is a common question often asked of me. It is curious for me. When I was the Managing Partner for Deloitte, I was 120 per cent busy and time was always a rare commodity. I have found moving from that environment to one where I can have total control over my time it is much easier and I’m not 120 per cent busy. I look at life as “work/life integration” rather than work/life balance. What does that mean? Well to me that means there are seven days in the week to spend time on important matters in front of me, work or life. The “mix” is flexible and importantly I am passionate with everything I am involved in.
What got you involved in this type of work?
I was a management consultant for most of my professional career, solving problems and seeking out opportunities. So, for me this was an easy transition from working as an advisor to joining the boards of organisations looking to solve problems and seek out opportunities. In addition, one of my core capabilities was to work on different clients during the week and to be able to refocus my attention to each. This has proved a valuable capability as I can refocus across the many boards requiring attention during the week.
Do you find it rewarding?
It is very rewarding. My measure of reward is seeing organisations and the people within those organisations making significant positive impact in what they do. Seeing those organisations and people grow is an important measure of success for me.
How did you start working in this space?
When I retired from Deloitte, I wanted to begin my full-time professional company director career, but this had to be authentic for me. What I am passionate about is supporting organisations that have a strong purpose and their people are driven by their purpose. Specific industries were not of concern to me. This has led me to being involved at a board level with more than 30 organisations in a variety of industries over three decades with the majority being over the past 15 years. There was no shortage of opportunities and most came from the connections I had in the business community.
Not-For-Profits seem to feature heavily for you – what are some particular governance challenges they face?
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Many of the governance challenges for NFPs are the same as for any organisation. Clear strategy, strong leadership, a sustainable financial model, good governance, processes, technology and people. The nuance for NFPs is that they generally struggle in many of these areas as compared to “for-profit” organisations. NFPs are driven by their purpose and so financial sustainability limits their ability to address the challenges. That is why I prefer to think about NFPs as “Profit for Purpose” organisations. Financial sustainability and a viable financial model is critical to being able attract the right people and implement the right processes, technology and ultimately strategy for success.
What makes for a good leader in your opinion?
Leadership is not a question about style. That is, what style of leader is better than another? A good leader has a common and critical characteristic and that is they are authentic. They are themselves and people see and understand who they are. A good leader is less interested in themselves and more interested in the people that they are leading. The success of the people they lead is what is important to a good leader. And consequently, the measure of a good leader is in fact their followership.
How does someone get involved with working on boards? What’s your advice?
My advice is simple. Firstly, ask yourself is being a member of a board (a team) something that I am passionate about? There is a commitment requirement that is beyond simply “a job”. This is about being “invested” in the organisation you want to join. And you will need to understand and be able to articulate the value you will add to the board and organisation. So be clear about this as there are many pathways to a board from personal connections to formal application processes. No matter the pathway it is the same question; why do you want to be part of this board?
