Leading a Board of Directors in The United Kingdom: Indirect Leadership

Abstract

In the UK context the chair is responsible for and represents the board, while the CEO is responsible for and is the public face of the company. Chairs are accomplished professionals with strong views, but they lead without taking up much space and avoid the limelight. They lead board members by engaging them in a collective effort, creating an environment for effective collaboration and encouraging productive behaviour by providing feedback and opportunities for both group and individual learning and development. They do not give orders or issue directives; instead they steer or nudge followers by setting agendas, framing discussion items, soliciting opinions, and seeking and providing feedback. They set clear expectations and establish rules, but in line with a cultural tradition the latter serve as guidelines rather than set-in-stone laws. During the COVID-19 crisis chairs of British boards demonstrated resilience, commitment and adaptability. They quickly moved their board meetings online, increased the frequency of board interactions and adjusted their agendas. In addition, chairs significantly increased their time commitment and made themselves available round the clock. At the same time most of them steered their boards away from interfering with the management’s job. UK chairs provide exemplary leadership by consistently displaying the attitudes and behaviour they expect others to follow. “Indirect” is probably the most accurate term to describe their leadership style. Board leaders in the UK learn from reflecting on their experience, exchanging with colleagues from other boards, participating in conferences and other learning events and reading specialist literature. They consider enable collective learning of the board one of their priorities and do it by conducting periodical board evaluation, organization reflection sessions, seminars and awaydays and engaging experts and consultants.The COVID-19 accelerated the adoption of technology by British boards. In the future a hybrid format whereby some meetings are held face-to-face and some online will become the norm. Board leaders will be kept busy by balancing increasing regulatory pressures with the need to address strategic issues in a fast-changing, turbulent world. Chairs will ensure that their boards spend more time on risk management, environmental issues and sustainability. Employee health will become an important item for board discussions. By the end of the next decade there will be more women (up to 20 percent) chairing British boards, but this will remain an area dominated by male ex-CEOs in their fifties and sixties.