What Is a Chairman and How to Become One

The job duties of a chairman revolve around making executive-level decisions. This position usually involves sitting on the board of directors. A chairman is often elected or appointed by other executives or board members. As a director, your responsibilities include providing leadership for the company. However, in this higher position, you oversee a group or committee of board members who focus on decision making by consensus during board meetings. As a chairman, you assemble a leadership team to carry out the board’s strategies.

The qualifications that you need to become a chairman of an organization include job experience, a track record as a successful executive, and, often, a degree. Generally, an executive position requires 10 or more years of job experience, including success in management or another decision-making position. You may wish to pursue a master’s degree in business administration or in a field that is relevant to the organization’s industry. Since this is usually an elected position, there are no universally accepted qualifications or skills.

Any company or organization can have a chairman position. Most chairpeople work in companies or organizations that have a board of directors or a similar group of decision-making executives. You could pursue an executive-level job in a software or technology company, a healthcare organization, a nonprofit, a publicly-traded company, a finance firm, or any other corporation. Unlike most employment opportunities, you may need to campaign and convince the voting members of the board of directors to choose you for this position instead of submitting a resume and going through an interview process.