Recruiting a Chair: Getting the Process Right
Reflections on governance, leadership and how boards work in practice
Recruiting trustees is rarely straightforward. Appointing a chair can be more complex still. Boards often find themselves balancing whether to appoint from within or to undertake a wider search — sometimes without having navigated a process of this kind before.
Which raises an important question: how can boards design a chair appointment process that is robust, transparent and genuinely trustee-led?
A Defining Governance Moment
The chair is not the ‘best trustee’, but a first among equals. This applies equally to panel, committee and board chairs. For a board chair, however, the role is distinct — enabling the board to function well, drawing out insight and supporting effective governance.
At its heart, appointing a chair is not simply a recruitment exercise. It is a defining moment in the life of a board’s governance. Central to this is the relationship with the senior leader — one that combines support, challenge and trust, and which benefits from clarity early in the process, both about expectations and boundaries.
Moving Beyond Delegation
Historically, chair appointments have often been delegated to a small committee or working group. While this can be an efficient and entirely appropriate approach, it can sometimes create a degree of distance between the process and the wider board.
Where the full board has limited opportunity to engage before an appointment is confirmed, there can be a risk that some trustees feel less connected to a decision that will shape the board for years to come. Boards may also find, partway through a process, that there is less alignment than initially assumed — not necessarily on candidates, but on what is needed from the role itself.
Broader engagement does not need to slow things down. Thoughtful involvement can strengthen collective ownership and, ultimately, the quality of the decision.
Governance, Not Recruitment
Appointing a chair is not the same as appointing staff. It is a governance decision, made by trustees, about the leadership of the board itself. This distinction can be helpful in shaping how the process is designed and who leads it.
Professional recruitment experience can add real value. Alongside this, governance experience helps ensure that decisions are taken in the right place, with appropriate independence and collective oversight.
The Role of the Senior Leader
The senior leader’s involvement is both important and sensitive. The chair will typically be their closest working partner and, in many respects, their line manager. It is therefore entirely appropriate for the senior leader to contribute to the process. Their insight can be valuable — particularly in helping to shape understanding of the organisation’s context, priorities and leadership needs.
At the same time, it is helpful for that contribution to sit alongside the wider appointment process, rather than directing it. The appointment itself remains a trustee decision, with collective responsibility resting with the board. Positioning the senior leader as one contributor among others — rather than as leading or shaping the process — helps maintain clarity of roles and supports confidence in the independence of the outcome.
Where roles and boundaries are clearly understood, the process is more likely to feel balanced, transparent and appropriately governed.
Creating Space for Trustee Voice
Strong governance depends on participation. Trustees benefit from opportunities to contribute to the development of the role description and person specification — not necessarily through complex processes, but through simple, inclusive mechanisms such as short consultations or feedback requests.
What matters is not complexity, but inclusion. Practical considerations also play a part. Scheduling discussions with regard to trustee availability, sharing papers in good time and allowing space for considered input all signal that trustee voice is valued.
Listening — and Responding
In well-functioning boards, trustees’ voices are not only invited — they are heard. Not every perspective will shape the final outcome. But where feedback is offered, it benefits from being considered carefully and acknowledged thoughtfully.
Where this does not happen, there is a risk that confidence can begin to erode — not only in the outcome, but in the governance processes that support it. This is not simply about process. It is about trust.
A Matter of Trust and Confidence
There is no single model for appointing a chair. Effective processes, however, often share common characteristics: clarity of purpose, transparency of approach and meaningful engagement.
Ultimately, a chair appointment is not only about identifying the right candidate. It is also about the confidence a board has in how that decision has been reached.
A Job Well Done
When done well, the process of appointing a chair does more than identify a candidate. It can strengthen the board itself. Collective voice and experience enhance the key governance requirement of collective responsibility — a foundation of strong governance practice.
And as anyone involved in trusteeship will know, good governance rarely happens by accident. It is shaped through intention, reflection and the way people choose to work together.
