Strategy and Performance Insights from The Touchline Coach
We’re in a moment where pressures are compounding. Inflationary drag, cautious consumer behaviour, rising costs of capital, and the reverberations of policy shifts from the Spring Statement are being felt across boardrooms. Add international supply-side pressures and a jittery lending environment, and it’s no surprise some businesses are beginning to feel structurally exposed.
For many boards, this is uncharted territory. Business plans are missing. Liquidity is tight. The executive team may be underpowered for the severity of the moment. And suddenly, the boardroom, once a place of oversight and strategy – becomes a pressure cooker.
This is when the Chair matters most. Not for show. Not to grab the wheel. But to keep the board constructive, the agenda grounded, and the room steady. It’s about supporting the CEO while still holding a clear view of what the business, and its stakeholders, need next.
Reset the Tone, Not the Truth
In pressured environments, boards can become reactive, anxious, or oddly passive. Conversations tighten. Blame creeps in. The Chair is the only person in the room with both the authority and neutrality to calm the tone without suppressing the truth.
This isn’t about soft-soaping the reality. It’s about framing it clearly and constructively. Acknowledge the seriousness of the situation. Encourage plain speaking. Keep the discussion focused on impact and action. A good Chair helps ensure the facts stay on the table, and that fear doesn’t fill the gaps where clarity is missing.
Help Focus the Plan
The executive team will be under pressure to produce answers, often too many. Your role is to help cut through the noise. Ask for a clear, high-level plan: what matters now, what’s being done, where the exposure sits, and what scenarios are being prepared for.
You’re not there to rewrite the strategy. But you can help narrow the focus and remind the board, and the CEO, what must be prioritised. Strip away the cosmetic slides. Encourage the team to bring a one-pager that gives everyone a shared understanding of the plan, the risks, and the triggers.
This doesn’t remove scrutiny. It just makes it more useful.
Bring the Team into the Room
In tough times, CEOs sometimes try to shield their teams from board pressure. And understandably so, some execs will never have lived through a scenario like this. But you, as Chair, can encourage visibility in a way that builds confidence without exposure.
Ask to hear directly from functional leaders. Allow the board to see ownership being taken across the senior team. Let the CEO know you’ll support them in that. It’s important for the board to judge whether there’s depth in the team, and this can’t happen if the CEO is the only one speaking.
At the same time, be aware of your own NEDs. A stressed board can start leaning into operational areas they shouldn’t. You’ll need to keep a gentle but firm boundary in place: input, yes; execution, no. The Chair keeps governance from becoming interference.
Shift the Board’s Scorecard
It’s not just the plan that needs adjusting, the board’s expectations often do, too. When business is buoyant, boards rightly focus on long-term growth and performance. But when trading is fragile, those expectations can quickly become a source of pressure rather than progress.
You may need to help the board reset its measure of success. Right now, success might mean managing cash to avoid covenant breach, preserving customer relationships, or simply stabilising morale. Framing this clearly, and helping the board adapt, is part of your leadership.
Don’t let a distressed business be judged by a peacetime scorecard.
Keep Banking Relationships in View – But in Perspective
The bank will inevitably become a more central player when cash tightens. It’s important the board is aware of how these conversations are unfolding. But it’s equally important that the board doesn’t become obsessed with second-guessing the lender’s mood.
The CEO must lead these conversations, with full transparency. As Chair, encourage the right level of engagement, frequent enough to be informed, but not so intense that board energy becomes entirely bank-facing. Keep the board’s eye on the business itself, not just the lender’s mood.
Understand When Duties Shift
When the business begins to stretch creditors or defer payments, you may be closer to the legal line than it appears. Most directors, including non-execs, operate under the assumption that their duty is to shareholders. But once the business is at risk of insolvency, that duty may shift to creditors.
This is where early legal advice is wise. Encourage the CEO and CFO to speak with an insolvency lawyer before things escalate. Let them explain what’s being done to protect value, and ask for written confirmation that the actions being taken are reasonable and aligned with directors’ duties.
It’s not about appointing lawyers or alarming staff. It’s about demonstrating foresight. Many insolvency lawyers will treat early engagement like this as business development, and will gladly help frame your actions appropriately. As Chair, you’ll want to see this kind of thinking in play.
Create a Rhythm That Calms
Don’t let formal meetings carry all the weight. Consider encouraging informal, short updates between board cycles, light touch check-ins that allow directors to stay informed and reduce the temperature in the room.
This also allows NEDs to ask questions outside the high-stakes environment of the full board. Done well, it gives the executive team breathing space while maintaining transparency and trust.
Final Thought
This is when people look to the Chair. Not for technical answers or heroic interventions, but for calm authority. The Chair doesn’t take over. They steady the room, protect the process, and hold the space so that others can do their best thinking.
In many ways, it’s the hardest time to Chair a board, and also the most important. These are the moments when governance either holds its shape or falls apart. If you get it right, you create a container for resilience, focus, and recovery. You give the CEO space to lead. You help the board stay constructive. And you guide the organisation through the fog without needing to raise your voice.
Lead from the touchline. Keep your presence steady. And hold the board, and yourself, to a higher standard when it matters most.
