Chairman vs President

When it comes to major roles in an organisation, you will often find a chair and a president. Although they both hold important offices, there are differences in the responsibilities when comparing chairman vs president. 

A chairperson is the head of a company’s board of directors, while the president holds a separate position. In some organisations, they are second-level executive officer, below the CEO, leading the management team. In others, they act as the CEO or are even the superior of the chief executive. 

Chairman’s role and responsibilities

• Board leadership: Guides the board’s actions, manages board dynamics and ensures active director participation and board accountability.
• Governance oversight: Evaluates board performance to ensure good governance practices and compliance with legal standards.
• Strategic influence: Steers the board’s focus to shape and guide the company’s strategic direction, ensuring its actions align with long-term goals.
• Chairing meetings: Collaborates with other stakeholders to set board meeting agendas, guides meeting discussions and ensures effective decision-making.
• External representation: Represents the company and the board to key external stakeholders, enhancing relationships and addressing concerns.
• CEO-board liaison: Facilitates communication between the CEO and the board, ensuring strategic alignment and effective flow of information.
• Risk oversight: Guides the board’s activities in effectively identifying, assessing and managing business risks.
• Ethical leadership: Promotes strong corporate values and ethical behaviour throughout the organisation.

President’s role and responsibilities

• Operational leadership: Oversees daily activities to ensure efficiency and implements operational systems to address challenges promptly and enhance productivity.
• Executive management: Guides the executive managers, setting clear expectations and fostering a collaborative environment to ensure objectives are met.
• Strategic execution: Translates the company’s strategic plan into actionable goals and monitors progress, ensuring that all levels of the organisation are working towards them and understand their roles in achieving them.
• Supervising P&L: Monitors KPIs across departments to identify areas for improvement and oversees profit and loss to ensure fiscal health and operational efficiency.
• Reporting: Provides feedback to the CEO and, often, the board. However, this may vary between businesses.
• Resource allocation: Manages the allocation of resources, including budget, personnel and capital investments, to meet strategic objectives.

Key differences

Hierarchy and reporting

• The chair typically reports to the board of directors. They oversee the board’s activities and ensure effective corporate governance.
• The president often reports to the CEO. They manage the company’s daily operations and execute the board’s strategic plans.

Focus areas

• The chair focuses on governance, strategic oversight and board leadership. Their role is to ensure that the board functions effectively and adheres to governance best practices.
• The president focuses on operational leadership and strategy execution. They implement the company’s strategy to achieve business targets.

Decision-making authority

• While the chairman does not make unilateral decisions, they may influence director opinions and strategic direction.
• The president holds decision-making authority over operational and strategic matters within the company.

Interaction between the two roles

The chair acts as a liaison between the board and the president, ensuring clear communication and alignment on strategic goals. The two roles collaborate on key issues and maintain open, regular communication to ensure alignment between the board’s strategic direction and the company’s operational execution.