We develop a conceptual framework in which we show how a non-executive director’s task performance may change over their life cycle on the board. We adopt a three-stage process to examine the task performance of a non-executive director: independence stage, engagement stage and relationship renewal stage, and use capture theories of regulation to develop a number of testable propositions. We argue that capture theory allows us to explain how a non-executive director’s task performance can change from one where monitoring and control is high and strategy and service is low to the reverse over their period on the board.