Deliverable
A portfolio brief, capacity view and reviewed mandate pipeline.
Wider contribution / Portfolio career
Build a portfolio of mandates that fits your contribution and capacity.
Develop a deliberate mix of board, advisory, fractional and other agreed roles, with relationships and commitments coordinated across the whole portfolio.
How the outcome takes shape
Role mixDefined commitment
BoardJudgement & oversight
AdvisoryBounded contribution
FractionalOperating responsibility
Available capacityReview the whole before adding a role.
Illustrative role types; the mix follows your brief.
Design the whole before pursuing each role
A portfolio career needs a repeatable way to choose complementary mandates. Define your contribution, intended role mix, capacity, income requirements, exclusions and review points. Assess each proposed role against this brief.
Existing people may include chairs, former clients, investors, founders and colleagues familiar with your judgement. Missing relationships may include mandate sponsors, portfolio operators or advisers. A first worthwhile conversation is: “Where would my experience be useful, and what scope and commitment would make that contribution workable for both of us?”
Conversion / Existing relationships
Convert relationships into compatible mandates
Start with people who recognise the shared context or have had a genuine prior exchange with you.
C4 adapts to the role: a board appointment follows its nomination and diligence process; an advisory or fractional engagement needs agreed scope, responsibilities and approval. Relevant organisations and advisers own formal decisions. StepUp provides research, preparation and coordination alongside the executive office.
C1Prioritise existing relationships
Confirm relevant sponsors and introducers, relationship history and contact permissions; map them against the intended portfolio mix.
C2Open the right conversation
Reconnect around a concrete contribution and suitable role context; prepare a clear mandate discussion.
C3Establish mutual fit
Test scope, contribution, authority, timing, capacity, constraints and decision route for a particular role; check compatibility with existing commitments.
C4Progress the opportunity
Coordinate the relevant nomination, assessment or engagement process and agreed scope with authorised parties; record completed commitments.
C5Sustain the relationship
Honour delivery and review commitments, discuss renewal where appropriate and preserve useful continuity after a mandate ends.
Building / Missing relationships
Build relationships that improve the portfolio mix
Build the missing relationships through a relevant contribution, a legitimate introduction or an appropriate direct approach.
A new person introduced by an existing contact starts in Building. The relationship with the introducer remains in Conversion.
B1Map missing relationships
Identify mandate sponsors and introducers missing from the selected role contexts; show the portfolio gap each relationship could address.
B2Prepare a credible route
Prepare an authorised introduction, useful contribution or direct approach supported by relevant operating experience.
B3Open contact
Make the agreed approach through a suitable channel with a clear description of contribution and available scope.
B4Establish a two-way relationship
Develop reciprocal exchange about needs and contribution; agree a useful route to continue without presuming a paid mandate.
Continue from the evidence you have
An introduction may satisfy B2 and B3 together. A substantive discussion can establish B4 and C3 together if a particular mandate's fit is actually tested. Otherwise continue at the first unmet Conversion step, based on the outcome-specific conversation, opportunity fit and agreed continuation. A current agreed record and a live outcome-specific exchange can satisfy C1 and C2. The portfolio develops from evidenced relevance and capacity, not a public-posting quota or a mandatory waiting period.
B4 establishes a two-way relationship. C3 tests a particular opportunity. Continue at the first unmet Conversion step with one relationship owner; there is no repeated onboarding.
Progress / Evidence
Count sustainable commitments, not a collection of titles
Reciprocal progress
A sponsor agrees to explore a defined role whose demands fit the portfolio.
Final result
An agreed mandate begins or an appointment is accepted, with actual start, delivery and renewal tracked separately. Portfolio success also requires reviewing whether the total mix remains workable; one accepted seat does not complete that work.
One coordinated programme
Coordinate the portfolio as one programme
This personal programme has distinct access, reporting and permission boundaries from any corporate mandate. One relationship owner coordinates contact with each person across authorised objectives. Existing roles, employer obligations and professional review may constrain a new scope; those constraints must inform the brief and formal process.
The executive owns priorities, judgement, conversations and commitments. StepUp coordinates preparation and follow-through across the portfolio.
You
Set the priorities. Bring your judgement to the conversations and decisions that need your involvement.
Your office
Your chief of staff or nominated owner validates context, coordinates existing teams and exercises delegated approvals.
StepUp.One
Research, drafting, conversation preparation, coordination and agreed reporting around the relationships in scope.
Review your intended portfolio
Define the desired mix, contribution, capacity and exclusions. Identify the strongest existing relationship, one missing sponsor and a first worthwhile conversation, with clear permissions and an owner.
- The intended mix of mandates and contribution
- Capacity, income requirements and exclusions
- Existing relationships and missing sponsors
- One useful conversation and a review of the whole portfolio
Arrange an executive briefingFor you or your chief of staff.