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Welcome to My Blog on Chairing the Board

I’ve thought of calling it CHAFTROU, or ‘Chairing, For The Rest of Us’, because most of the existing resources I’ve found (two books to be precise) are about chairing listed public companies … which most of us don’t.

Thousands of people have been given the privilege of chairing their board – a private or family company, a sports or cultural organisation, a charity, a government entity, a co-operative or any other type of entity – and most new chairs find themselves in the role for the first time with little preparation, besides what they may have observed from their predecessor. They soon learn that what they’ve seen is only a fraction of what it really involves. More ›

  • Risk – the forgotten axis

    March 22, 2024 by

    Almost every week another building, usually in Wellington, is evacuated because it’s deemed ‘Earthquake Prone’ and either covered in plastic sheeting or left to rot, while the hapless owners consider how they’ll afford the repairs and strengthening that the engineers have mandated. This week for a change it was the turn of the South Island’s… Read more

  • Three things they don’t teach you at ‘Board Boot Camp’

    November 1, 2023 by

    Nobody’s born a director. We don’t grow into being a governor, the way we do with walking, talking, parenting, or making a success of a job.

    Becoming an effective director requires a range of technical, social and communication skills, contributing as one of a group, rather than as individuals.

    Over the years, I’ve found that a few things – ways we approach the role – typically aren’t taught, but can make a huge difference …

  • Before the main course – 

    August 3, 2023 by

    Do you recognise this board? Directors arrive shortly before the scheduled start; you take your places, open your board packs and work your way through the agenda, item by item; as the chair closes the meeting, you shut your pack, gather your iPad and phone, and head to the taxi. Other than exchanging a few… Read more

  • The shift we’ve been expecting in Air New Zealand’s strategy?

    February 27, 2023 by

    Has Air New Zealand’s market strategy changed – or is it simply now more obvious? I’ll start by saying that I have been a relatively frequent, usually satisfied, flyer with Air New Zealand for a long time (my Frequent Flyer number has five digits and I’ve accumulated 14 ‘banked years’ of membership). In the last… Read more

  • No such thing as ‘Invisible Leadership’

    January 30, 2023 by

    I usually hesitate to comment on current events, because experience shows that matters are seldom as they appear in the fog of a fast-moving situation. This weekend’s catastrophic storm event in Auckland, however, speaks for itself and calls for an immediate reaction. First, I find it ironic that a Mayor, who was elected on a… Read more

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