An outstanding chairman is someone who is never afraid to ask what might appear to be a silly question. He – and it is usually a “he” – is quite happy to enjoy his executives being triumphant without ever being in the limelight himself. He is a co-ordinator and a facilitator, but never the fount of all knowledge.

All good advice, from three chairmen past and present judged outstanding in a recent survey of directors with first-hand board experience. The first was from Sir Harry Solomon, former chairman of Hillsdown Holdings, the food group taken private in 1999; Sir Rob Margetts who currently chairs Legal & General, the insurance group, provided the second; the third came from Jeremy Hamer who chairs two Aim-listed companies, Access Intelligence and Glisten.