What Makes a Great Board Chair?

A new report out today reveals the crucial x factor that makes for a great Board Chair. In a role which often lacks a traditional job description, there is little guidance or information on how to make a success of the top job. ’What Makes a Great Board Chairí, by Board performance experts, The Change Partnership, part of the Whitehead Mann Group, is the largest study to-date on how to succeed in the role.

The report is based on interviews with 215 Directors with Board positions on FTSE 100, FTSE 250, large private companies, private equity companies and public sector bodies. They have experience of nearly 800 organisations and more than half (60%) currently hold the position of Chief Executive or Chair.

Eight out of ten (83 per cent) of the Directors questioned said that the quality of the relationship between the Chair and the CEO is the decisive factor in what makes a great Board Chair. Feedback emphasised the importance of strong interpersonal skills, self awareness and empathy.

The second most important factor cited by those interviewed (75%) is the belief that Board meetings need to be open to challenge and debate and that a great Chair promotes independently-minded input from all Directors.

Third of the top three criteria for the role of a great Chair is continuous improvement in the selection and succession processes for Board positions (66%).

The research reveals that all good Chairs share a number of core qualities and experiences which equip them to do the job. Over and above these, there are ten factors that make them stand out from the rest. These are set out as Ten Tenets and form a cornerstone of the research (see attached).

Author of the report, Susan Bloch, a Partner at the Change Partnership says:

ìClearly, the quality of the relationship between a Chair and the CEO is crucial. This is no mean feat when the Chair usually arrives after the CEO is appointed. A Chair with self-awareness and strong interpersonal skills is in a far better position to negotiate the ups and downs of this delicate double-act. True leadership will come easily to a Chair with the common touch who can engage with people at every level within the business. There is no room for an out of touch and distant figurehead at the top anymore.î