The chair of the Association of Chairs (AoC) has said the organisation should be 10 times its current size due to the support that chairs require.
Writing in a blog about his first year as chair, Joe Saxton said that the chair role is very different to that of a CEO, despite them often seeming similar at first glance.
“While many CEOs learn their trade working their way up through the organisational hierarchy, chairs have often only been a trustee of one charity,” he said.
“These two differences alone mean chairs, and their boards, are likely to need more support than paid employees.
“It’s why AoC should be at least 10 times its current size.”
AoC does not have an official target to become 10 times bigger, Saxton told Civil Society, but he said that “there’s so much need for chairs and boards to have more support”.
‘Emergency’ support for chairs
AoC is planning to provide “emergency” support for chairs, Saxton outlined in his blog, who might be having a “terrible time” due to challenges such as a clash with their boards or executive team.
“I have talked to chairs whose stories of the challenges they face have left me speechless and sobered,” he wrote.
AoC plans to publich a new strategy in about a month, Saxton told Civil Society, which will build on these ideas in more detail.
The charity, which offers peer-networking support for chairs, reported an income of £195,000 for the financial year ending March 2023, against an expenditure of over £285,600.
Saxton founded the not-for-profit research agency nfpResearch in 2002 and stepped down as its driver of ideas in late 2021.
