A CEO can't lead the board as well as lead the company.

Perhaps a controversial statement given that it is common (especially in the US) for the CEO to be the Chair of a startup. But the role of chair is a specific function.

🗣️ "One of my core jobs is to give the CEO oxygen." Peter James - Chairman of Macquarie Telecom and Droneshield.

I chair a number of boards and have trusted relationships with the company's CEOs. Indeed, when this trust falls away - which it can do - I do what I need to do to get it back quickly. The job is impossible without it.

What we do together

🔅 The Chair manages the conversation and owns the task of getting decisions made. The CEO can focus on listening, understanding and providing insight. We hold each other accountable for delivering on our function.

🔅 We agree the desired outcome of a meeting in advance and collaborate on ensuring that the papers and the pre-work are ready to get to that outcome in the meeting.

🔅 We know which directors to spend time with between meetings. We know who can inform a decision the most and who has the most at stake around it. Then we do the work to get the meeting content and structure ready for the right discussion.

🔅 We agree on how to use the skills of directors outside of a board meeting to get the most out of their expertese and experience.

The relationship between a CEO and a Chair manages an unavoidable tension that is always present between those that govern a business and those that run the business. The same board room can feel like 'going to the Principal's office' or like a special place where we all get sharper.

An effective chair needs to get that balance right.

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I'm a Partner at Main Sequence, a VC purpose-built to create global companies from scientific ideas with the inventors who imagine them. I build-out-loud here: https://philmorle.substack.com

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