The Chair’s dilemma: knowing when to step in and when to step back
May 13th 2025
For first-time non-executive chairs, especially those transitioning from CEO roles, the shift from decision-maker to strategic advisor can be deceptively tricky.
The instincts that served them well as operators must now be tempered by a new discipline: restraint.
At Compass Carter Osborne’s recent non-executive round table, seasoned chairs and investors discussed what is arguably the most delicate challenge of the role: how to guide without overreaching.
“It’s one of the hardest things,” said one participant. “You’re watching a management team do something you don’t agree with. You don’t think it’s going to work. But if you intervene every time, you’re not being a non-executive anymore.”
Influence, not interference
The non-executive chair’s job is to support, challenge, and advise but not to lead the business day-to-day. The nuance lies in when and how to act. Step in too often and you risk disempowering the executive team. Step back too far, and you fail to fulfill your oversight responsibilities.
Getting that balance right is a matter of experience, judgement and diplomacy.
“You’ve got to know how to intervene in a certain way,” said another panellist. “It’s not about barking instructions. It’s about asking the right questions, at the right moment, in the right tone.”
From doing to guiding
For former CEOs, this shift in posture is more than tactical, it’s psychological. As one attendee put it, “You’ve been in a role where you had all the answers. Now, you’re in a role where your power comes from the questions you ask, not the calls you make.”
It requires a mindset reset:
Let go of control, but not of responsibility.
Trust the team, while ensuring accountability.
Speak less, listen more.
“You’ve been in a role where you had all the answers. Now, you’re in a role where your power comes from the questions you ask, not the calls you make.”
The best chairs know their influence isn’t diminished by stepping back, it’s often enhanced. Their gravitas comes from perspective, not presence.
A defining skill
Ultimately, this ability to balance support and scrutiny, involvement and independence, is what separates good chairs from great ones. It’s not about doing less, it’s about doing the right things at the right time.
In high-pressure, fast-growth environments like those backed by private equity, the skill to guide without dominating is not just desirable. It’s essential.
Are you seeking a trusted partner to support your executive search in healthcare?
We bring decades of executive search experience and a proven track record of success across our dedicated sectors. Our investor clients rely on us time and again to build exceptional leadership teams that drive growth and deliver results.
