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Reference
Langan, R., Krause, R., & Menz, M. (2025). Compromise Leadership: Competing Board Subgroups and the Appointment of a Newcomer Chair. Journal of Management, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063251381323
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🎙️ Welcome to Revise and Resubmit — where boardrooms, numbers, and narratives collide in unexpected ways. 💼✨
Today’s episode zooms in on a quiet but seismic moment in corporate life: that instant when a board must choose its next chair. Not just any chair — the chair. The one who sets the tone, steers the agenda, and stands at the delicate intersection of oversight, power, and politics. 🧭🔥
We’re unpacking the article “Compromise Leadership: Competing Board Subgroups and the Appointment of a Newcomer Chair” by Robert Langan, Ryan Krause, and Markus Menz, published online on 17 November 2025 in the highly prestigious Journal of Management — a star player in the elite FT50 journal list and brought to us by SAGE Publications. 🏛️📚
This study digs into a puzzle: if firm-specific human capital is so critical for effective board leadership, why would a board hand the gavel to a newcomer? 🤔 The authors track 2,199 board chair appointments across S&P 1500 firms and reveal a fascinating dynamic — when the board fractures into powerful, opposing subgroups and no side can win, the answer is not “my candidate” or “your candidate” but a third option: a newcomer, a human peace treaty in a tailored suit. 🧩🕴️
Drawing on power circulation and faultline theories, the paper shows how divided boards use newcomer chairs as compromise leaders — and how this tendency shifts when firm performance is strong, stoking contestation, or when a powerful CEO can break the deadlock and tip the scales. In other words, leadership at the top is not just about experience; it is about fault lines, factions, and the fragile art of keeping the board table from cracking in two. ⚖️💬
So as you listen, here’s the question to keep in mind:
💡 When a newcomer becomes board chair, is it a bold bet on fresh leadership — or a silent signal that the board couldn’t agree on anything else?
🙏 A huge thanks to Robert Langan, Ryan Krause, and Markus Menz, and to SAGE Publications, for this insightful contribution in the prestigious FT50-listed Journal of Management.
🎧 If this kind of research-driven storytelling is your thing, make sure you subscribe to “Revise and Resubmit” on Spotify, hit the “Weekend Researcher” YouTube channel, and follow the show on Amazon Prime and Apple Podcast as well. 🔔📲
Stay tuned, stay curious, and keep revising how you think about leadership at the very top. 🚀