- March 3, 2022
- Posted by: Eunoia Law
- Category: © CG Series
The Chairman is to an organization what a Captain is to a ship. Though the crew (Board members) are extremely important, the captain navigates the organization in the actualization of its vision.
The roles of the chair are numerous and sometimes, industry specific. However, some general and pivotal roles include:
Knowledge of the Core Business
The days of appointing individuals with a good heart and no skill as chair of a board are long gone!!! The chair must have a functional knowledge about the core business of the organization. Staying current and informed on factors that could impact the organization through networks, memberships and subscriptions across a wide range of areas, will assist the chair in leading and contributing contemporary knowledge to the decision making process.
Meetings
He prepares for and presides over Board Meetings. He ensures the agenda for each meeting is robust and allows for discussions in relation to the organization’s culture and its drivers; staff presentations, client stories/ testimonials, site visits, surveys, reports on turnover and complaints etc.
Managing Conversations
The chair handles and undertakes difficult conversations on areas that could affect the business of the company. For instance conversations on performance evaluations of the CEO or a board member; conversations between various stakeholders and the differing interests they represent etc. This is a difficult, but significant role of the chairman and his ability to function without bias aids in his discharge of this role.
Training
He guarantees the effectiveness of the Board by ensuring that induction trainings are conducted for new directors as well as continuing education trainings and workshops for all other directors
People Management
The chair manages and draws on the diversity of the board, for the benefit of the organization. He does this by exploiting the individual strengths, experience and know-how of all directors. This allows for quality decision making as issues are explored through multiple perspectives.
The appointment of the chairman of the board is a pointer to the overall success or otherwise of the organization.