The post pandemic board - a new collaborative endeavour PR File - Flipbook - Page 23
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The post pandemic board: a new collaborative endeavour
“Real pressure – and I mean serious pressure
– makes you grow up. Crises and scandals
produce different people, different tolerances
and an appreciation of perspective and
bonding.”
The current environment requires chairs to dedicate
far more personal headspace to the role and they
are finding the cognitive shifts they are increasingly
required to make demanding and tiring. Chairs are,
by definition, also carrying higher reputational
risk, and are constantly on show: “Your brand, your
personal reputation and how you carry yourself is
always being assessed: you constantly have to carry
yourself in a way that demands respect, whatever
you’re doing”.
They can also no longer simply learn ‘the role’ and
are required to work in a much more integrated way
with a higher degree of interest and involvement in
the internal life of their organisations. For chairs
in 2022, getting the big judgement calls right –
especially while under public scrutiny – means
knowing the organisation and its capability inside
out.
What success looks like for chairs may also be
evolving: as one chair put it “it’s all a work in
progress”. They are increasingly comfortable with
the fact that they don’t have the answers. With
so few strategic cycles certain to complete in the
coming years, perhaps being Chair is a necessarily
messy business, requiring personal flexibility, the
ability to draw on collective resource and judgement
in the moment?
For some, the fulfilment derived from performing
the role simply comes from establishing direction
and helping to move the organisation forward and
in line with it, towards greater effect and positive
impact. Having assessed the risks, they are
comfortable in that figurehead role and many enjoy
the platform, reach and connections that come with
it.
Chairs appreciate having other chairs around them
as sounding boards to test, validate and share
their personal experiences. Humour is a valued
commodity as is simply “having another life”,
retreating from the board realm every so often
to recharge batteries, regain perspective and
remember why they enjoy the work.