Leadership responsibility of the chair of the board
Recently I did a virtual seminar for the IoD on how the chair helps the board navigate through the new normal. Covid-19 is a sustained crisis situation placing ever evolving demands on organisations and as such the new normal will itself continue to change.
Leadership of the board is the responsibility of the chair. In these challenging times good chairs can lead effective boards by setting the tone, rules, objectives and decisions required. Leadership is not just doing but being seen to do, to set the example, and as such leaders must be consistent and make an impact, both verbally and non-verbally.
Leaders need to inspire their followers to deliver vision and purpose. They need their followers to ‘see it, own it, do it’. This even more critical at board level. The chair needs to achieve this through facilitating discussions/ debate and building trust whilst welcoming and handling conflict. This is in addition to the more traditional (and often administrative) roles of the chair such as recording of decisions, managing time, inclusion and participation, being tactful and fair whilst also being assertive but not aggressive. Board meeting endings must be positive and time given to board reflection.
The purpose of the chair is to ensure that the board is effective. They must lead the board, set and drive the agenda and create an environment for the board which is forward-looking (delivering the vision), focused on strategic matters (delivering purpose) and evaluates and oversees current business (performance and tone). As a figurehead they often represent the organisation externally, acting as its spokesperson.
During the new normal those who hold the position of MD concurrently with that of chair need to be ever vigilant of the conflict this generates. Let us be clear that the chair is responsible for leading the board whilst the MD has the power and responsibility to lead and manage the business. The chair is expected to be independent whilst the MD is accountable to the board of directors, responsible for implementing decisions made by the board.
Success depends on a high-performance board – and this begins and ends with the board itself led by the chair. Effective chairs have charisma, authority (without bullying!), organisation, focus and an ability to prioritise. They are peacemakers and advocates, enablers and facilitators who challenge constructively. They are visionary, able to delegate and mentor and support the board. They are well connected and willing to share contacts, financially and technologically savvy with strong communications skills.
Effective boards all share similar characteristics which stem from great leadership, appropriate board composition and regular meetings with well-planned agendas. These should be informed by appropriate, digestible high-quality information. Above all great boards are learning boards with regular reviews of their own effectiveness as a board.
Board dynamics are critical, and the chair drives these behaviours. There must be high trust between all board members, recognition of each board member’s value, common objectives – understood and agreed by all – and open two-way communication with active listening. The chair as the leader of the board drives this through example, personality and skill. Decision-making must be participative, challenges constructive, conflict encouraged to surface and be well-handled, feelings openly expressed and there must be periodic self-evaluation in addition to board evaluation.
The chair is key to developing a high-performance board. Under challenging conditions such as Covid-19 a chair needs to drive board cohesion to deliver high-performance board output rather than one that fractures under pressure due to a failure reach an effective decision. No subject should be off limits for healthy and constructive board debate in an environment where each member is strongly committed to the team.
In a constantly evolving situation where business strategies and practices are having to endlessly adapt to the changing world, a core purpose that remains constant and clearly defined values are a must. Board members must demonstrate what these values mean in their behaviour, decisions taken, and specific actions (we must ‘walk the talk’) in order to ensure that the rest of the organisation has clarity around acceptable behaviours and performance as well as building confidence and trust. The role of the chair is often that of ‘enforcer’, leading the board into high performance.
Of course to some degree the chair and board can manage their internal environment but things become trickier when considering the external environment. Here the chair cannot rely on positional power or status. Inter-organisational relationships present unique challenges where the need to create willing followers, believers and partners is essential. The need to influence and build trust are critical to relationships and leading in the external environment. Great chairs focus on three key areas; fostering good 1-to-1 relationships, identifying and engaging with the external influencers and identifying and harnessing external power structures.
For all leaders there are difficult topics, which become more pronounced during challenging and stressful times of rapid change and uncertainty – of which three, questions, objections and conflict – need to be handled well to drive the board forwards effectively. Questions should be encouraged, objections explored and conflict embraced, with a focus on the issue not the person.
Successful leaders project calmness, a willingness to engage and a sense of fairness and purpose to navigate and lead in turbulent times. Beware the comfortable board room!