How to be a Good Board Chair
Most board chairs are experienced leaders. Half the chairs of the S&P 500 double as their companies’ chief executives, and the vast majority of the rest are former CEOs. But the close association of the two positions creates problems.
It’s difficult for a board led by the CEO to serve as a check on that CEO—which is precisely why, after the corporate scandals of the 1990s and early 2000s, more companies began separating the roles.
However, that division can create another problem: When the chair is not the CEO, there’s a real danger that he or she will start acting as an alternative chief executive, sowing conflict and confusion among the firm’s top managers.
Photo by Radek Grzybowski on Unsplash
Themes Governance
