Tips for getting a place at the table.(Information Service Review)

What it takes to be tomorrow's corporate director

Ambition. A corporate board brings benefits. Know what they are and how to use them.

"Most people who are joining boards aren't doing so for the direct financial rewards, but more for the connections and advantages to being on the board," says Deborah Triant Rieman, president and CEO of Check Point Software Technologies, in Redwood City, Calif.

Assertiveness. You need to promote yourself and your ideas, both before joining a board -- to let people know that you're interested in a position -- and after you have attained a board seat.

"You have to really feel like you belong at this table, …