In this article from the Harvard Business Review,
"How to Be a Good Board Chair," the author,
an academic and consultant, discusses good practices for the board
chair's role based on a survey of 200 board chairs from 31
countries, 80 interviews with chairs and 60 interviews with board
members, shareholders and CEOs. According to the author,
international differences notwithstanding, he "found a
remarkable degree of agreement about what makes a good
chair."
After the scandals at the turn of the century, the author
observes, companies increasingly began to separate the roles of CEO
and chair to reinforce the function of the board as a check on the
CEO, with the result that about half of the S&P 500 now have
independent board chairs. Virtually all of these independent chairs
have substantial leadership experience, and the "vast
majority" are former CEOs—that is, former stars of the
show. While that's obviously an enormous benefit, it can also
be problematic: "When the
