My contribution to a board
I would bring a founder's understanding of why an organisation can find delegation difficult even when everyone agrees that it is necessary. I have experienced the value of direct personal decisions and the point at which that habit begins to limit a larger company. On another board, I could help examine whether management authority is real, whether information reaches the responsible person and whether the founder's different capacities are being distinguished clearly. I would not assume another owner should adopt my exact arrangement; the contribution would be a better set of questions about the business's actual decision routes.
I also understand the obligations that accompany an installed equipment base. A board can see new orders and factory utilisation more easily than the practical capability needed to support older machines. I would ask how the company funds that work, how service and refurbishment are assessed commercially and where dependence on a few experts creates fragility. These questions connect strategy, people and operating economics. They do not require a non-executive director to become the customer's engineer or manage the service schedule.
Judgement in practice
01Accepting a smaller invoice without inventing a larger future benefit
The refurbishment cohort produced RMB 11 million of work instead of the RMB 34 million replacement proposals. I kept the revenue difference visible and did not replace it with an unsupported claim about future loyalty. This gave directors a decision they could assess through the actual scope, cost and customer purpose. In another industrial business, I would ask whether a new service model has its own credible economics or is being defended through benefits the company has not yet measured. I would also expect management to explain where the model should not be used, rather than treat one useful example as proof that repair is always the right answer.
02Making the founder's bypass part of the review
When we delegated engineering and parts decisions, we recorded informal requests that bypassed the agreed manager, including those I had encouraged. That made the governance change more than a demand that other people behave differently. On a founder-led board, I would be attentive to the gap between written authority and the route colleagues actually use. I would raise the issue through the chair with evidence and respect for the founder's contribution. The aim would be a functioning organisation, not a personal contest about status or an assumption that all founder involvement is inappropriate once the company reaches a certain size.
03Distinguishing recruitment from usable capability
The apprenticeship account separated forty-two entrants, thirty-one assessed completions and twenty-seven people retained another year later. Directors could therefore examine where the programme was building capability and where its assumptions needed revision. I would bring the same distinction to another company's people investment: what work can participants now do, what supervision remains and what capacity is required to teach the next group? I would not reduce the discussion to a completion percentage or suggest that expenditure alone establishes competence. The operating plan should reflect the practical result and the time experienced colleagues must still contribute.
My first year on a board
I would start by understanding the company's ownership history and the decisions that still depend on particular people. With the chair's agreement, I would follow a few ordinary operating questions through their actual route: who assembles the evidence, who decides and how a disagreement is resolved. I would compare that account with the formal remit without assuming a difference automatically means misconduct. Some informal practices contain useful knowledge; others create dependence or obscure accountability. The first task is to distinguish them.
My induction would also include the installed base, service model and practical skill requirements relevant to the company. I would visit appropriate operations through the executive team's arrangements and review how customer obligations are represented in the plan. During the first year, I would seek a defined contribution to a people, strategy or operating-capability committee. I would agree with the chair how to raise concerns without becoming another informal authority channel. By the year's end, I would want evidence that my questions had helped the board clarify a choice or understand an assumption, rather than simply added another experienced opinion to discussions already crowded with them.
Conflicts and their management
My ownership and executive role make commercial conflict assessment central to any external appointment. Industrial businesses may share distributors, service partners, component suppliers or investment relationships even when their product catalogues look different. I would map those connections before accepting a role and update the board when they changed. Confidential customer installations, pricing and engineering records from Wensharo would remain within their authorised use; they would not be material I could bring to another company's competitive discussion.
I would use the agreed disclosure and participation process for a specific conflict, including restrictions on papers where appropriate. If the same relationships repeatedly prevented useful contribution, I would question whether the appointment should continue rather than assume an administrative process made it workable. My stated twenty-two days includes reading, meetings and planned visits. An exceptional workload could require more, so I would discuss that possibility with both boards before making a commitment that relied on an unrealistically quiet year.
My independence statement
I would declare my majority ownership, executive position and relevant commercial interests in full before a proposed appointment was assessed. Another company should evaluate those connections through its own process and advice. I would not assume that a separate product category removes every relationship that could affect my judgement or participation.
Board and committee exposure
Served as a director
Wensharo Thermal Systems
Board; founder and executive director
April 2011–present
Retained director service through the 2018 minority investment and separately chaired board arrangement.
Reported to a committee
Wensharo Thermal Systems
People and capability committee
2021–present
Reports the apprenticeship investment, practical assessment and retention record.
Presented to the Board or a committee
Wensharo Thermal Systems
Strategy and service investment review
2019–present
Presents the economics of refurbishment and installed-equipment support.
Presented to the Board or a committee
Heshanrow Equipment
Group divisional performance review
2008–2011
Presented cost decisions as divisional general manager, without holding a group director seat.
Committee contribution
Chair and member readiness| Capacity | Committees |
|---|
| Ready to chair | Industrial service or operating capability committee after induction |
|---|
| Ready to join | People and capability committee · Strategy committee · Investment committee |
|---|
Capacity and preferences
- Time available
- 22 days per year
- Current directorships
- 1
- Sectors
- Industrial equipment outside competing product lines · Specialist maintenance services · Founder-led manufacturing businesses
- Company type
- Founder-controlled business introducing or strengthening a professional board
- Company stage
- Moving from personal decision-making to repeatable managerial responsibility
The seat I am pursuing
I would consider a board where industrial experience and first-hand knowledge of founder transition address a defined need. An established manufacturer introducing a separate chair, or an equipment-services company building a more disciplined commercial model, could be relevant. I would look for a capable executive team and a chair willing to clarify the contribution expected from each director. The appointment should not depend on me becoming an informal adviser to every manager or a private route around the CEO. I am most immediately comfortable with a China-based business or regional operation whose context I can study properly. Different markets and ownership arrangements would require additional preparation. I would rather decline a broad but ambiguous invitation than accept a title without a practical understanding of the committee work, conflicts and time needed to contribute responsibly.
Governance learning and readiness
IICA Independent Directors’ Databank: Not yet registered
My immediate board interests concern China and regional industrial businesses. I have not completed registration with the IICA Independent Directors' Databank, and considering an Indian appointment would require additional preparation and a separate assessment of the applicable process.
- Induction with a separate chair following minority investment
- Board workshops on founder interests, executive authority and related commercial relationships
- Committee review practice for industrial capability and service expenditure