To lead and to serve: the habits of the best chairmen
Alison maitland
They are razor sharp and quite ready to sack non-performers, but are also rich in empathy and highly supportive, says Alison Maitland
What qualities mark out a good chairman? When Whitehead Mann, the headhunters, put this question to directors of large UK companies and public sector bodies, it was bad chairmen rather than good ones that sprang most readily to mind.
“My worst-ever chairman was a narrow-minded bully,” says one director, interviewed for the report to be published this week. “When he was bored, he'd suddenly pick on somebody and shout: ‘You, what about you? Do you have a view? No, you don't. I didn't think so.'”
Few of the 215 top directors from FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies, large private businesses, private equity firms and government volunteered praise for chairmen as a species. “I've only come across one good chairman in 12 that I know,” one of them remarks. Another says: “None that I have known could be classed as great.” Some FTSE 100 chairmen and boards are “comprehensively ineffective”, says a third.
These are disturbing comments, given the chairman's crucial role in ensuring a smoothly functioning board. The job has been in the spotlight since Sir Derek Higgs delivered his government-sponsored review of non-executive directors last year, spelling out among other things that chief executives should not go on to become chairmen of the same company.
So it is timely that this study*, published by The Change Partnership, the boardroom coaching business of Whitehead Mann, investigates the attributes required in a contemporary chairman. It claims to be the largest survey of its kind: the interviewees sit, or have sat, on the boards of 775 private and public sector organisations in the UK, and 60 per cent are currently either chief executive or chairman.
As David Reid, chairman of Tesco, says in the foreword: “Being in the chair of an organisation is a hugely satisfying and challenging role, but it's also one for which there is very little formal preparation. So, as organisations develop their methods of board assessment, a better understanding of the critical success factors as seen by their peers will be of great help not only to those already in the chair but to those preparing to take on this responsibility.”
By drawing on directors' experiences, both positive and negative, the research team arrived at 10 factors that make good chairmen. Many involve strong interpersonal and communication skills, and the ability to combine objectivity with a thorough understanding of what is going on in the organisation.
The interviewees agree that a great chairman or chair, as the authors prefer it will not previously have been the chief executive. “Many CEOs don't have the skills to be chairman and certainly not in their own organisation, because they can't let go,” says one. Another, who chairs two organisations, comments: “The chairman needs to be a ‘busy' individual elsewhere, otherwise he can interfere.”
There is also increasing recognition that the role of chairman is different, not simply a progression from being a chief executive. “The chair needs not to want to be a chief executive. His role is to make the CEO a hero, not himself,” says one. Another says: “Learning to be an effective non-executive director is an absolute prerequisite to becoming an effective chairman.”
Some of the qualities of a good chairman seem obvious: he or she will be a good listener, judge of people and facilitator; will build trusting relationships with shareholders; and will be a guide, mentor and sounding board for the chief executive. Delve into these attributes and it becomes clear how much of a balancing act the chairman has to perform.
Take the relationship with the chief executive. Some directors say loyalty and friendship are essential for a chairman and chief executive to work well together. But how close can they be when the chairman's job is also to hold the chief executive and other executives to account?
“It's not about being a confessor or shoulder to cry on,” according to one director. “The support they give has to be carefully balanced with the need to be constructively critical.” One chairman recalls: “As I said to my CEO, I have to make you successful, support you, or fire you.”
The required detachment does not come easily. One interviewee relates how long it took for the chairman of a public company to get rid of the chief executive in the face of shareholder pressure. “He was unwilling initially . . . He did meet shareholder expectations in the end, but had to be pushed until he was centre stage, and so had to make a very uncomfortable decision.”
Good chairmen will soften their often heavyweight boardroom presence with sensitivity to those around. “Strong chairs have to be very careful not to inhibit the rest of the board from contributing,” says one director. “They shouldn't be too early in communicating their own views.”
These days they must also strike a balance between regulatory demands and strategy. “I've learned since starting as a new chairman that we were spending too much time on corporate governance,” admits one interviewee. “I now see that I need to move through these items relatively quicklyand spend more time on strategy.”
So what is a really good chairman like? One director sums it up: “He is high in empathy, genuinely nice, cares about people, has‘the common touch', but also can be razor sharp and can deal with things in a tough way.”
*What makes a great board chair? The Change Partnership
造就优秀董事长的10大因素
一位优秀的董事长应具备哪些品质？当猎头公司Whitehead Mann向数家大型英国企业以及公共部门的董事们提出这一问题时，恰恰是糟糕的董事长而非优秀的董事长更容易跳入他们的脑海。
“我碰到的最糟糕的董事长是个心胸狭隘的恶棍，”一位董事在为一份将于本周发表的报告接受采访时说，“当他觉得无聊时，就会突然挑中一个人，然后对他大吼大叫：‘你，你觉得呢？你有什么看法？没有，你没有，我不这样认为。’”
在富时100指数(FTSE 100)和富时250指数(FTSE 250)成分股公司、大型私人企业、私人股本公司和政府部门的215位高层董事中，几乎没有人主动称赞董事长这类人。“在我认识的12名董事长中，我只碰到一位优秀的，”其中一位说道。另一位说：“我认识的董事长中没有一个可称得上伟大。”还有一位说，富时100指数企业的一些董事长和董事会“工作完全没有效率”。
这些评论令人不安，因为董事长在确保董事会平稳运行方面起到至关重要的作用。去年，在政府赞助下，德里克?希格斯爵士(Sir Derek Higgs)对非执行董事进行了一次审查，其中一项结论是，首席执行官不应继续担任同一家公司的董事长，从此，董事长这一职位引起了人们的关注。
因此，上述研究*正当其时。该研究由Whitehead Mann旗下的董事会训练公司The Change Partnership公布，调查了成为当代董事长所必需的品质。该研究号称是同类研究中规模最大的一个：受访者目前或曾经任职于英国775家私人企业或公共部门组织的董事会，其中60%是现任首席执行官或董事长。
特易购(Tesco)董事长戴维?里德(David Reid)在报告的序言中说：“担任一家机构的董事长非常令人满足，而且充满挑战，但这也是一个非常缺乏正式准备的职位。因此，随着各个机构发展自己的董事会评估方法，若能更好地了解其他董事对关键成功因素的看法，这对那些已成为董事长以及准备肩负起董事长责任的人都大有裨益。”
通过对正面和负面的董事经验进行总结，研究小组得出造就优秀董事长的10大因素。许多因素涉及良好的人际交往和交流技巧，以及将客观情况与对机构运行状况的全面了解相结合的能力。
受访者同意如下观点，即伟大的董事长原先不是首席执行官。“许多首席执行官并不具备成为董事长的技能，当然更不是在同一家机构内，因为他们无法听之任之，”一位受访者表示。担任两家机构董事长的另一位受访者表示：“董事长应该是在其他方面非常‘忙碌’的人，否则他会插手干预。”
人们越来越认识到，董事长的作用有所不同，而不仅仅是首席执行官的晋升。“董事长没有必要想做首席执行官。他的作用在于使首席执行官成为英雄，而不是他自己，”一位董事表示。另一位董事说，“学习做一位有效的非执行董事是成为有效董事长的先决条件。”
优秀董事长的一些品质似乎显而易见：他（或她）必须是好的聆听者、伯乐和促进者，必须与股东建立信任关系，必须是首席执行官的引导者、导师和反馈者。深入研究这些品质，我们会清楚地发现，董事长应该采取大量平衡措施。
以董事长和首席执行官的关系为例。一些董事表示，董事长和首席执行官要共事愉快，忠诚和友谊是必不可少的。然而，当董事长的工作还要使首席执行官和其他高管承担责任时，他们之间的关系应有多密切呢？
“董事长不应成为忏悔神父或是哭泣者依靠的肩膀，”一位董事表示，“他们给予的支持必须加以谨慎的平衡，必须既关键又具建设性。”一位董事长回忆说：“我曾经对我的首席执行官说，我必须让你成功，支持你，否则就要解雇你。”
要做到必须的客观公正并非易事。一位受访者描述了一位上市公司的董事长。“一开始他也不愿意……他最终确实满足了股东的期望，但在登上中心舞台前，他得受到敦促，而且因此必须做出令他非常不舒服的决定。”
董事长通常在董事会很有影响力，但优秀的董事长将弱化这种影响力，而且会对周围的董事保持敏感。“强势的董事长必须非常谨慎，不要妨碍其他董事会成员做出贡献，”一名董事表示，“他们不应该太早表达自己的观点。”
目前，他们还必须在监管要求和战略制定上取得平衡。“自从作为新董事长上任，我就认识到，我们过去在公司治理上花费了太多时间，”一位受访者承认，“而我现在认为，必须相当快地做完这些事，并花更多时间在战略制定上。”
那么，一个真正优秀的董事长是怎样的呢？一位董事这样总结：“他很有感染力、非常善良、关心他人、平易近人，但也可能非常尖锐，并能采取强硬手段处理事情。”
*《如何造就伟大的董事长？》，The Change Partnership。
