How to be an even better chair
Sensible advice from the public and charity sectors
By Sophie Petit-Zeman
(in association with Common Purpose)
Foreword by Julia Middleton
0-273-70729-9 (Paperback)
Jan 2006, 104 pages
£14.99 (+ £2.50 P&P)
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Whether you are a new chair, an old hand, or even just thinking about whether or not you’d like to sit at the head of the board, this book is for you. It contains the cumulative wisdom of dozens of chairs, from all types and sizes of organisations, from huge NHS Trusts to school governors, from charities to arts councils.
It provides a pooled wealth of experience from which all chairs can learn something about being more efficient, effective and, quite simply, lifting their performance and that of the board they lead. Most chairs end up learning the hard way, and inevitably that will always be the case to some degree. But if this book saves you making just one potential mistake, helps you tackle a tricky situation from a position of greater confidence, or reassures you that others have been where you are now and made it through, then it will have done its job.
Packed with warmth, wisdom and wit, the advice and experiences contained in this book will make the life of every chair a little easier and much less lonely.
Read the foreword by Julia Middleton.
“All boards are as good – or bad – as the people on them and their behaviour. The best way to help the chair improve the effectiveness of board behaviour is to make available the valuable real world experience of those who have been there and got that t-shirt. This book does just that, lucidly and with spirit.”
Sir Derek Higgs, author of the Higgs report
“This book is essential for new chairmen of all sorts of organisations, and it is no bad revision for those who have years of experience. It’s practical, subtle, informative – and often funny. If you chair an organisation, or think you might like to try, this is compulsory reading.”
Baroness Neuberger, author, broadcaster and chair
“I sometimes think I’m a whizz at chairing, but then I prove I’m not. So it’s somehow comforting to read that even the most experienced chairs can get it wrong, and inspiring to see how they’ve generally got it right, or put it right. I found this book illuminating, useful and a surprisingly good read.”
Prue Leith, one of the UK’s most experienced non-execs
“Good boards need effective, diplomatic chairs, yet it is rare that one can find sound advice to help them maximise their boards’, and their own, efficacy. This book is full of practical hints and helpful techniques, based on the personal experiences of many who have been there and done it.”
Geraldine Peacock, CBE, Chairman, Charity Commission for England and Wales
“Effective governance lies at the heart of every successful organisation. This book, with its very welcome down-to-earth approach, will refresh the experienced as well as guide those who are new to a chairing role.”
Jim Coulter, former Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation
“The experienced chair no longer has to feel that he or she is alone in leadership.”
Stuart Etherington, Chief Executive, National Council for Voluntary Organisations
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