Leading a Board - Chairs' Practices Across Europe

This book represents the first cross-country study of the work of board chairs in Europe. It includes unique data collected through interviews with 90 experienced board chairs and their key stakeholders - board members, CEOs and shareholders.

The book focuses on what board leaders actually do, rather than what they should do, and elaborates on a conceptual contingency framework for understanding chairs' work in Europe. This includes a comprehensive list of chair practices - iterative behaviour strategies for getting things done, comparisons of contexts for chairs' work and practices among nine countries, and identification of cross-European and country-specific trends that will shape the work of board leaders in the next decade.

The book will benefit incumbent and future chairs, directors, shareholders, CEOs, executives and regulators in developing a systemic understanding of the work of a chair in the European business context and gaining insights into how the leader of the board deals with specific challenges. It will also be of use to educators to use as a platform for teaching corporate governance courses and developing specific programmes for board leaders. And finally, scholars will find rich conceptual and anthropological material for fostering their research in corporate governance, board and group effectiveness, stakeholder management, board leadership, and leadership in general.

Stanislav Shekshnia is a Professor of Entrepreneurship at INSEAD, a Director of the 'Leading from the Chair' executive development programme and a Senior Partner at Ward Howell. His research concentrates on leadership, leadership development and effective governance in regions and organizations.

Veronika Zagieva is a Director of Ward Howell Talent Equity Institute, an internal research and development division of the Ward Howell Group. Her research is focused on leadership development, CEO effectiveness, CEO succession and board dynamics.