Board chairs are not assembled from Ikea boxes: Corporate India must learn the art of succession

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The sudden exit of a chairperson is often accompanied by off-the-shelf explanations like ‘personal reasons’, ‘strategic realignment’ or the pursuit of ‘other opportunities.’ The recent abrupt resignation of HDFC Bank’s chair was a reminder that at the summit of corporate power, where the air is thin and minutes are curated, such reasons are rarely taken at face value.This is curious because a corporate organization chart resembles something between a pyramid and a theological hierarchy. At the base: employees. Above them: managers.

Then executives. Then the CEO, the top boss. And hovering above all, a board of directors.

At the apex is the chairperson, the one who is theoretically in charge of those who are in charge of everything else.It is alarming that for such a pivotal role, the world has invested roughly the same amount of structured training as it has for assembling Ikea furniture. There are courses for coding and masterclasses for sourdough. But for chairing a board? We rely on instinct, reputation and the belief that someone who has been around will have good judgement.

This is wishful thinking, not strategy.The first need is to define the job. Understand the profile. This sounds obvious until you realize how often companies skip it, preferring to anoint the most senior or least controversial candidate, often on a ‘your turn’ basis.When firms do produce a formal job description, it reads like a legal disclaimer drafted in an existential crisis; it is vague, cautious and designed to offend nobody.