Article
Reprinted with permission from the National Association of Corporate Directors after originally appearing as an online article on September 10, 2026.
How can chairs translate the strengths of individual directors into stronger board performance? There are four actions the chair can take.
The chair serves as the board’s orchestrator and leader among peers. He or she helps decide what merits the board’s attention, maintains strong working relationships among directors and with management, builds a special rapport with the CEO, and ensures important issues surface in the right forum. Chairs serve as the bridge between the board and leadership when hard decisions must be made.
Yet in Russell Reynolds Associates’ (RRA) 2025 Global Board Culture and Director Behaviors Study, only 67 percent of respondents said directors on their boards often or always cultivate relationships with the CEO, and 52 percent said the same of executives beyond the CEO. The study also found that spending more time on board priorities does not necessarily translate into results.
The chair doesn’t need to be involved in every board or management interaction. Effective chairs maintain enough visibility into the issues and dynamics across the board and management to know when to step in and when to give others room to lead.
Boards are built around the expertise directors bring. High-performing boards ensure that directors build on each other’s thinking.
The best chairs distinguish between directors’ personal expertise and the experience most relevant to the issue at hand. However, RRA’s 2025 survey finds that 89 percent of respondents said directors on their boards often or always apply their personal expertise to board issues, while only 71 percent said chairs effectively draw out other directors’ relevant expertise.
A chair’s instinct might be to let conversation flow. But without active facilitation, discussion can drift toward what directors have seen before rather than what is most relevant to the issue at hand. The result can be a series of individual comments rather than relevant, action-oriented conversation.
Chairs must be equally thoughtful about their own expertise, knowing when their experience adds value and when to create space for someone else to speak. Strong chairs ask questions before demonstrating what they know, then synthesize directors’ contributions.
High-performing boards need directors who take responsibility for how they contribute, not simply whether they prepare for board meetings. That means all directors should be open to receiving candid feedback, adjusting how they contribute as the board’s needs change, and addressing behaviors that weaken the board, such as dominating discussions or veering too far into operations.
RRA’s 2025 research found that 51 percent of respondents said directors on their boards often or always solicit honest feedback from fellow directors. Only 43 percent said chairs often or always provide constructive feedback. Peer accountability can be difficult on boards, where directors may be more accustomed to giving feedback than receiving it. That makes the chair’s role especially important in establishing an expectation of continuous improvement.
Chairs need to hold themselves to the same standard by seeking feedback, receiving criticism without explaining it away, and adjusting when the criticism is valid. They should also ensure there’s a credible mechanism for directors to assess the chair.
High-performing directors challenge assumptions, exercise independent judgment, and consider different perspectives. Yet just 69 percent of the 2025 RRA survey respondents said directors on their boards often or always demonstrate an independent perspective and avoid groupthink, and 68 percent said their chairs actively seek different points of view.
Chairs also need to model the behavior they expect from others. When challenged, they should respond with curiosity rather than defensiveness and be willing to reconsider their own views. The goal is a boardroom where directors can test assumptions and challenge one another’s thinking.
Ultimately, board performance is measured by the quality of the board’s judgment in the decisions that matter most. An effective chair helps directors challenge assumptions, make full use of the expertise around the table, and reach better-informed decisions.
The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not represent the perspective of NACD.
Russell Reynolds Associates is a NACD strategic content partner, providing directors with critical and timely information, and perspectives. Russell Reynolds Associates is a financial supporter of the NACD.
Rusty O’Kelley co-leads Russell Reynolds Associates’ Board and CEO Advisory Partners practice. He is based in Miami.
Laura Mantoura is a member of Russell Reynolds Associates’ Board and CEO Advisory practice. She is based in New York.
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