I have been through my first year as chair of the Association of Chairs, and a lot has happened. I have talked one-on-one to over 100 chairs and sent over 2500 emails. We have recruited a group of amazing staff, and we have also recruited some fabulous new trustees.
My first year as chair
Through all that activity, what have I learnt about chairs, boards, and the Association?
Here are five thoughts…
People want the Association of Chairs to succeed
Among all the people I have talked to, from sector bodies to individual chairs and trustees, there is a huge will, a great desire, for the Association of Chairs (AoC) to succeed.
If support, affection, solidarity and belief paid the bills we would be 10 times the size we are now. The sector so strongly sees the need for effective chairs and boards and wants us to flourish. This support means we have a great platform upon which to build a community of mentoring, mutual support, and self-help peer groups.
Chairs can have a terrible time
I have talked to chairs whose stories of the challenges they face have left me speechless and sobered.
Some challenges are sadly accidental – such as CEOs with terminal cancer. Others are about personalities – chairs clashing with their boards or founder CEOs. Many are about a confluence of events – staff leaving, funding uncertainty, and the like.
All have made me realise that we should do more to help chairs in their darkest hours. That’s why we are building into our plans some kind of ‘emergency’ support for chairs. Boy do some of you need it!
Being a chair is so different from being a CEO (but can often appear similar)
It’s easy to imagine that chairs are a lot like CEOs. And in many ways they are. But in some fundamental ways, they aren’t.
The first big difference is about motivation – many chairs are there because they care about the cause, or charity, first and foremost. So while CEOs will move from charity to charity, many chairs only want to serve that specific organisation or that specific cause.
Secondly, while many CEOs learn their trade working their way up through the organisational hierarchy, chairs have often only been a trustee of one charity. These two differences alone mean chairs, and their boards, are likely to need more support than paid employees.
It’s why AoC should be at least 10 times its current size.
It’s not just about chairs, it’s about boards as well
John Donne could have been talking about chairs when he wrote, and I paraphrase: ‘No chair is an island, entire of itself, every chair is a piece of the whole board’.
It’s no good just helping chairs, if their boards are ineffective, or inexperienced. We need to help raise the standards of the whole board. A brilliant chair needs a brilliant board to create synergy and an effective organisation.
We have since launched our board membership – click here to take a look.
There are so many great ideas for support for chairs and boards
The people I have talked to don’t just want us to succeed. They have been full of ideas for cross-fertilising the wisdom of chairs and their boards.
These include the obvious like podcasts, webinars, and case studies. But some suggestions are more creative: emergency mentoring (a chair with a problem gets an intensive period of support from a mentor); another is ‘Come Board with Me’ (chairs agree to sit in on each other’s boards to get and give ideas for making their own boards work better). There is no shortage of ways in which AoC can harness and disseminate the wisdom of chairs and their boards, to help improve their skills and performance.
What next for the Association of Chairs?
We will soon be releasing our new strategy, which builds on some of these issues and ideas. My first year as chair of AoC has brought home to me both the huge levels of need, and the fantastic support, for what we do.
Ultimately, it may take a decade or more to develop AoC to the point where we can do justice to our mission, but I have no doubt that if we can succeed in our goal, it will make a huge difference to chairs, boards, and non-profits across the UK.
Join our community of chairs
We champion all non-profit chairs and boards with a lively community, regular groups, events, and a supportive network.
Become part of what we’re trying to achieve – and access bespoke resources, events, webinars, training, and opportunities.
Our membership includes all kinds of chairs, as well as boards and federated organisations.
.png)
