Three Key Obligations of Board Chairs

How do you measure a chairperson’s effectiveness? Ask 10 different board members, and you may just get 10 different answers. Ask Les Wallace, Ph.D., president of Signature Resources , Aurora, Colo., and facilitator of CUES' first-ever Board Chair Development Seminar this spring, and he’ll tell you a chair’s duties can be broken down into three key areas.

1. Organizational obligations

• Keep a watchful eye on fiduciary oversight.
• Ensure the board is taking ownership of strategy.
• Make sure the CEO’s direction is on course.

2. Process obligations

• Manage the agenda. Wallace suggests this agenda for efficient, productive meetings:
  1. Convene
  2. Consent agenda—routine, non-controversial items collected into a group for a streamlined motion and vote
  3. Financials—a “skinny” report that provides what’s needed, but not too much detail that gets into the weeds
  4. Strategy
• Manage meeting dialogue and discussion.
• Be ready to have the tough conversations regarding board behavior.What to do with quiet or unprepared board members? “As chair, you can call on the quiet ones,” suggests Wallace. “For those who come unprepared, you may have to take a range of efforts. The first time it happens, just have a conversation with the board member. You can be a gentle coach, but you need to address it.” At the end of each meeting, Wallace suggests doing a very quick self-evaluation. “Ask things like, did everyone come prepared? Did we do everything we set out to accomplish? What can we do better next time?” he said.

3. Leadership obligations

• Set the tone, and be an example of preparation and service.
• Develop other board members, and recruit future members. For ideas on how to find new board members, read "Five Ways to Find New Board Members."
• Maintain an authentic relationship with your CEO. For tips, read "What CEOs Want Their Board to Know."

Leisa Goodman is a CUES marketing specialist