91. Are great board chairs really like orchestra conductors?

SCRIPT A lot of the effective directors I know like to use the analogy that a great board chair functions like an orchestra conductor. OK so an orchestra conductor needs to have a deep familiarity of the piece of music, and each musician’s part in it, and also to impose an element of their own interpretation in terms of tempo, dynamics, cadence, and so on. I guess I can kind of see why I’d want those characteristics in a board chair. Having someone in the room who understands the material, sets the pace, and provides a valuable interpretive lens for discussion actually sounds pretty great for a board meeting. But there’s another element to being an orchestra conductor – maybe the main element, in fact – which is that every musician in the group defers to them, and might even call them “maestro”! And the conductor is up at the front and centre of the stage on a pedestal for the entire audience to see, giving them an opportunity (and maybe temptation) to outshine not just the individual musicians, but the entire orchestra! Maybe the analogy of a board being an orchestra is better than the chair being the conductor. A group of diverse and talented people whose objective is to work together to serve the overall expression of the music. Each person has their own role, their own skill, and their own instrument, but no matter how great they might be, they serve little purpose on their own. But board chair as conductor? That would mean the chair is no longer part of the group, but outside it, on their own, in the spotlight.