How to sit on a third sector board | Tony Hall CBE

Tony Hall CBE, Lord Hall of Birkenhead, is Chairman of The Natural History Museum, The Woodland Trust, the children’s social work charity Frontline, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), the Local Visitor Economy Partnerships for Liverpool City Region. See below for his full biography.

Why did you choose to join the board of a cultural organisation?

It goes back a long way to the Theatre Royal Stratford East. I've always loved culture and the arts, and I was lucky because I believed in the theatre. I absolutely loved it and the audiences were spectacular. People who otherwise would not go to the theatre went. It felt like it was a part of the community, as well as being something remarkable in terms of its history. 

Do you feel that the requirements and primary reasons for joining third-sector boards has changed over the course of your career? 

I think the requirements have changed, but the purposes haven't. You still have to believe in what it is that you are joining. I think you do have to have a passion for the art form that you're supporting and believe in it and want to support it. That's not changed. 

I think the requirements of what you need to do have changed, certainly post-COVID. You have to balance all sorts of different stakeholders, income streams and things that are difficult to define - like quality. That's hard! Often, people come in from a commercial environment and say, “I can revolutionise this place, I can put it on its feet.” It's more complex than that now. So, you need people who understand that and can deal with that and can bring all their knowledge from the commercial world.

I also think what’s changed is that you’ve got to have people around you on the board who have different skills from the ones that you have, who come from different backgrounds and who can bring all sorts of different views and ideas into board discussions. The thing which often gets overlooked is that diverse boards include people from different social backgrounds. That’s quite hard, but I think that's important, too. It's great to have boards with people who give money, and you need that, but you also have to have people who don't come from that sort of background and can bring their own perspective to the work that you’re trying to do.

That was part of what you did at the BBC with June Sarpong – creating her role and putting her on the Executive Committee.

You really do have to break some boundaries to make a difference in terms of diversity. I brought June Sarpong in to sit on the executive committee, because I decided that every key decision-making group in the BBC would need to have two people from a BAME background. Unless you get people from different backgrounds influencing and being part of the decision- making process, you will not make change fast enough, in my view. We also decided that every decision making group across the organisation would have two additional people who come from diverse backgrounds, who can be there for a year or two to learn how to take part in these high-level discussions. Then, when we have vacancies, those candidates [become more competitive]. I think giving people the sense that they can do these roles and that they have something to offer is really important.

The other thing [a board] has to do is find the next the next tier of talent and make them feel supported. I've spent a lot of time on that, because I really believe that picking the right people is so important. 

Can you share any examples of where your organisations have walked that line between optimising commerciality and serving all of your stakeholders?

There were two things at the Royal Opera House that I was particularly pleased with. The first was that I wanted to make sure that half of the house was much more affordable than the other half of the house – so we were using the higher-price seats to subsidise the lower-priced seats. The second was the work we did out in Thurrock, trying to say to young people (especially those of school age), “Look, this could be for you. You could be involved in backstage skills, you could be involved in making sets, you could be involved in costume design. Opera and Ballet are things that you could get involved in – and, by the way, you can also sing.” It's really important that we are opening up our art forms to as broad an audience as we can.

What factors would you recommend people consider when deciding whether to join a cultural organisation’s board, specifically?

I think there are two things: Number one - which applies to any board role or job you take - is to double the amount of time that people tell you it will take. Number two, think very hard about the skills you can bring. I think it’s the responsibility of a board member to be very clear about what they can and cannot bring; that sort of clarity is important. The other thing you've got to be clear about is that you are a trustee; you're not an executive.

How can a board most effectively support a cultural organisation to navigate disruptions ranging from pandemic recovery to technological innovation over the next ten years?

First is the board meetings themselves; I think the executive must propose a strategy, but I think it's really important that the board have time to discuss, debate, bring their varied expertise to bear on the strategy. Second, the job of leadership and the board is to keep the organisation facing outwards and to remind the organisation that you're here for a broader purpose. 

But to my mind, the most important thing is getting the skills around the table right, so that whatever is thrown at the executive team, you've got the skills to help you navigate: people who have got skills in fundraising, people who've got skills in the digital space, people who've got skills in art, people who can help with marketing, the list could go on.

You currently serve as the Chair of the board of trustees for The Natural History Museum. What are the specific challenges and learnings of being a Chair, compared to a Trustee? 

Well, there's the time commitment. In the end, the buck stops with you; it's just of a different order to being a trustee or a non-exec. You know you're responsible for the family of people working for the organisation as well as all the people who support it .

A Chair also has to know how to chair a meeting. You’ve got to make sure the right amount of time is given to the topics that matter and, importantly, make sure that all voices are heard. Getting the board [to a place] where you can have a really open and honest discussion is phenomenally important. We’ve all been in meetings where the real discussion happens in the corridor outside the meeting room, or over the lunch break. What you’ve got to do – and it's hard - is to make sure that the proper discussion happens around the board table.

You also have to look after the public’s interest. The Natural History Museum must feel open to everybody, whoever they are - it’s theirs. At the same time, there are over 400 scientists working there, and they should feel cherished, too. Our aim is clear and vital: to produce advocates for the planet. The board has got to do everything it can to support that aim, and that creates an additional responsibility for the Chair.

What is your advice to someone looking to become a Chair in any sector?

You're becoming a Chair and not becoming an Executive Chairman. That positioning in your mind must be absolutely clear, because everything flows from there. You've also got to have a sense of what you think the company or the organisation should be doing. You don’t need to be an expert in that area, but you've got to have a sense of belief in what it's trying to do. That belief is really important. 

The other thing [you’ve got to do] is to talk to lots of people from all sorts of different roles and backgrounds and ask people what they think. I think being a good listener is really important, particularly as a Chair. People say they listen. Truth is, they often don't. And another thing: whatever you're doing, [the people you work with] should feel they can tell you what they think, good or bad.

How do your past experiences as chief executive at both the BBC and Royal Opera House impact the way you work with the executives of organisations you now serve? Were there lessons learned that you’ve now employed to your Chair roles?

The thing I learned most was: whatever you're doing, put the product first – in other words always start with the Art. When I went to the Royal Opera House it was in turmoil, and yet, there were people doing amazing things on stage each night. You’ve got to keep the conversation about why we're here.

I also think supporting creativity and making people feel that they can be confident enough to do the things which are risky and confident that, when things go wrong, they'll be supported to get it right.

By the way, boards ought to be fun, by which I mean that people should feel they are there to enjoy whatever it is that you’re doing. It makes you remember why you’re there. And by the way, people want to be thanked. 

When have you gotten it wrong, and what did you learn?

Frankly, if you get it right most of the time you're probably doing very well. You’ve just got to be quite open with people if you screw something up. What drives boards up the wall is when [the discussion amounts to], “Everything's brilliant, thank you very much. Let's move on,” and then two months later you realise you have a problem. I think getting boards and the executive team to be open and honest about things is so important. If you don't get that honest dialogue, there'll be problems and you won’t get the best out of everyone for the organisation you’re chairing.

Tony Hall CBE, Lord Hall of Birkenhead

Tony Hall is Chairman of The Natural History Museum, The Woodland Trust, the children’s social work charity Frontline, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), the Local Visitor Economy Partnerships for Liverpool City Region.

He is former Chairman of the National Gallery, former President of the European Broadcasting Union championing public service media across the world and a former Trustee of The National Trust, The Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra. Tony is also the Chairman of the children’s social work charity Frontline and the film company Harder Than You Think Ltd.

He is former Director-General of the BBC (2013 - 2020) overseeing all the BBC’s services across the UK and around the world, both public service and commercial. Tony first joined the BBC as a news trainee in 1973 and, as Director of News and Current Affairs, launched many of the BBC's most popular digital services - including BBC News Online, the rolling news channel, BBC Parliament and Radio 5 Live.

From 2001 to 2013 he was Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House, bringing financial stability, supporting new artists, and developing new audiences. He introduced the first live cinema screenings around the UK, low-price ticket schemes and a thriving new production park in Thurrock.

He was a non-Exec Board member for Channel 4 Television and was later appointed Deputy Chair of Channel 4 in 2012. In 2004 Tony was appointed inaugural Chair of the industry-led Creative & Cultural skills, introducing the first formal creative apprenticeships as well as new online careers guidance for emerging talent. In 2009 he joined the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and was appointed Chair of the Cultural Olympiad Board. He was awarded a CBE in 2006, was awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal in 2023 for outstanding service to the Olympic Movement.

He was made a life peer in 2010. He sits on the crossbenches in the House of Lords. He is an honorary fellow of Keble College, Oxford.

Susan Boster (interviewer) is the Founder and CEO of Boster Group Ltd., an award-winning consultancy specialising in the development of innovative partnerships between global corporations, cultural institutions and social impact foundations. Current and recent clients include Disney, Meta, Gap Inc., Moët Hennessy, J.P. Morgan, Bacardi, EY, Goldman Sachs, Montblanc and the Leverhulme Trust.

Previously, as Marketing Director at Barnes & Noble and later CMO at News International, Susan oversaw the transitions of both companies to e-commerce and digital platforms, including the launch of barnesandnoble.com.

Susan currently sits on the boards of the Design Museum - where she chairs the Enterprise Committee - The Representation Project, and the Donmar Warehouse. She previously served two terms as Vice Chairman of the Board of the English National Ballet. Susan is regularly featured as a moderator and keynote speaker at conferences such as the World Economic Forum in Davos and the CognitionX Festival of AI and Emerging Technology, and she is a Consultant Lecturer at Sotheby’s Institute of Art.