The Role of the Chair

Chairing is a role that carries so much responsibility. Executing it well requires the right balance of knowledge, skills and experience. However, if these facets are not appropriately applied or there is a misappropriation of skills, boards become ineffective or in some cases dysfunctional.

 

During delivery of the Effective Board Member (EBM) programmes, I undertake a workshop where I ask participants to give me examples of the behaviours and characteristics of a really good chair that they have served under and also identify what we can learn from those chairs that didn’t perform as well. The feedback received is always enlightening and helps participants to be able to identify behaviours in board meetings and apply this this learning to the work they undertake as part of the programme. Common themes from the workshop are that good chairs demonstrate a sound understanding of the organisation, they encourage participation in decision-making, are able to manage the dynamics of the board members and they follow the agenda, leaving the meeting with identified actions and ways to monitor performance.

 

What is commonly identified by participants as bad behaviour of a chair is the disorganised, dictator style with which they attempt to lead meetings that are not only non-productive in terms of progress, but mostly overrun on time. Then, there are also those meetings that are more of a social gathering than a place where the business of an organisation is being conducted.

 

The role of a chair presents a dichotomy. You are the first among equals managing great leaders in their own right. You need to discover appropriate and productive ways to maximise their leadership skills but you also need to cultivate a culture of teamwork. You have to be dominant without dominating. You have to be authoritative but not be autocratic. You need to influence but not control.

 

In his book ‘Thin on Top’, Bob Garratt articulates these concepts in the following way: “The interplay of the powerful personalities around a boardroom table will always need careful handling. This is the chairman’s job and it is a demanding one. While powerful personalities often enjoy controlling others, they do not enjoy being controlled themselves. Moreover, powerful personalities are rarely “team players”, yet a board is legally collegial and must learn to operate at the very least as an effective workgroup on the occasions when it meets.” Garratt acknowledges how complex the role of chair can be and training and development in your role as chair is crucial to executing it well.

 

Having a good chair is a critical part of ensuring that your organisation is governed well. Good boards don’t happen by accident which is articulated by The Financial Reporting Council in their ‘Guidance on Board Effectiveness’: “Good boards are created by good chairmen. The chairman creates the conditions for overall board and individual director effectiveness.” In my experience of sitting on boards, I have seen the good, the bad and the indifferent at play. What is always clear is that the good chair helps lead an organisation towards achieving its strategic goals.

 

So, what are the attributes that a good chair should exude? If you’ve been reading my blogs for a while, read any of my books, completed one of my programmes or attended an away day that I have delivered, you won’t be surprised to learn that I have some acronyms to help! The first one is The ABC of a chair’s role which describes three important functions:

 

AMBASSADORIAL

• Communicate with external and internal stakeholders
• Protect name and reputation of organisation
• Represent the organisation at functions and meetings

 

BOARD

• Properly address all major strategic issues
• Carry out key board tasks
• Manage the calibre and competence of the board
• Maximise the relationship between executives and non-executives
• Manage board business well, including sticking to the agenda and good timekeeping
• Monitor how the board is performing
• Engage all board members
• Provide the correct information to the board

 

CHIEF EXECUTIVE

• Support the CEO
• Determine boundaries
• Monitor their performance
• Appraise the CEO
• Liaise with the CEO to develop other directors

 

The ABC (Ambassador, Board, Chief Executive) of an effective chair describes functions that relate to the chair’s behaviour in running the board. There must be however, certain personal qualities that a person in the position of chair has that combined with the above, make them a good chair. Using the acronym LEAD, these characteristics are outlined below:

 

LEGACY

• Personal integrity
• Intellectual capacity – understanding, thinking, reasoning
• Leadership – 1. set vision, 2. practise what you preach, 3. see below
• Think creatively

 

ENTHUSIASM

• Persuasive but still sensitive
• Leadership 3. take people to the vision
• Speak your mind

 

AUTHORITY

• Ability to influence others without dominating
• Is confident and has presence
• Not dominating, control, autocratic
• Tact and diplomacy

 

DECISIVE

• Getting things done
• Clear conclusions
• Impartiality and fairness

 

If you are a chair, would like to chair a board in the future or have any sort of leadership responsibility, why not score yourself against ABC LEAD and identify any development needs you may have. You can also use the acronyms to assess the chair in your next board meeting. If the feedback is appropriately given, be it good or bad, this could lead to more productive board meetings, better organisations and good governance!

 

Until next time…