Chairman of the Board: a Practical Guide.

• Author: Davis, Tamara P.
• Position: Book Review

By Brian Lechem Published by John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York, 216 pages, $39.95

As WE KNOW, in today's corporate environment, the board of directors is rapidly evolving and in some cases transforming itself as legislative and SEC mandates are imposed. Part of this transformation significantly affects the role of the board chairman. In fact, we are witnessing a growing number of companies that are, for the first time, segregating the chairman's role from that of the CEO as a result of this enhanced scrutiny of governance and the growing emphasis on adapting best practices for corporate accountability.

Brian Lechem's book Chairman of the Board: A Practical Guide is a timely discourse on the role of the board chairman as strategist, leader, and consensus-and team-builder. Lechem helps us understand the function and role of a chairman and provides practical assistance, guidelines on best practices, and advice to both new and seasoned chairmen. Lechem gives some examples of real-life challenges met by companies in Canada, the U.K., and the U.S., and pro vides helpful to-do checklists throughout the book. He also addresses the challenges inherent for boards where the CEO and chairman's roles are combined.

Lechem is president of Boardroom Advisory Services and editor of the Boardroom newsletter, based in Toronto. He is also a founding president of the Institute of Corporate Directors, a Canadian organization allied with the National Association of Corporate Directors in the U.S. and the Institute of Directors in the U.K.

Being a chairman of the board is as much an art as it is an ability to manage people and processes. According to Lechem, the chairman has four primary responsibilities:

* "Concentrate on strategic leadership, focusing on an appropriate and realistic vision."

* "Ensure that the board is constituted with a good blend of skills, experience, and business competence."

* "Guarantee that the corporation has the policies, procedures, and resources in place to achieve its goals."

* "Monitor the achievement of these goals and ensure that the board is provided with the appropriate information it needs to be effective."

The book describes in detail the...