What’s new?
A fresh look at joint leadership: chair and chief executive
Attitude is everything when it comes to leadership. Chairs of trustees who understand their role, grasps the tenets of good governance and sees their chief executives as partners, not adversaries, are already a long way toward becoming the kind of leaders organisations need. A needlessly negative or aggressive chair destroys the possibility of a real partnership with the chief executive. By demonstrating good will and developing a candid, challenging but supportive working relationship, the chair can form an effective alliance between the board and the executive. The balance should be: close but critical when necessary, always cooperative but never cosy. An uninformed, dependent or passive chair is little use to the organisation or the chief executive.
On the basis of adequate training, good governance systems and a healthy partnership with the chief executive, chairs can share leadership in a number of ways:
- with the chief executive, taking a leading role in framing issues and bringing large- scale organisational change such as a governance overhaul;
- using his/her intimate knowledge of the board to help the chief executive present issues and convey information effectively;
- sharing the burden of bad news or hard times with the chief executive;
- working with trustees behind the scenes or taking on the role of spokesperson in public to promote initiatives and projects;
- developing his/her awareness of the present climate and potential future risks for the organisation;
- connecting to the larger voluntary and community sector (especially to networks of other chairs) and encouraging the chief executive to do the same;
- seeking out new ideas and innovative techniques that can strengthen the organisation;
- working with the chief executive to find practical ways to improve the performance of the trustee board.