Understanding leaders means understanding the world changing around them.
We examine how technology, industry shifts, globalization and organizational change are redefining leadership.
Board & governance
The Evaluation Imperative: A Board's Guide to CEO Assessment That Actually Drives Performance
CEO evaluation is the board's most important accountability mechanism—yet most boards do it poorly. Effective evaluation drives performance, develops leaders, and informs the most consequential decisions boards make. Here's how to do it right.
8 min read
Board & governance
The Evaluation Illusion: 8 Ways Boards Fail at CEO Performance Assessment
CEO evaluation is the board's most important governance responsibility—yet most boards do it poorly. Superficial reviews, avoided conversations, and misaligned metrics let underperformance persist and miss opportunities to develop great leaders. Here's how boards fail at CEO evaluation and the patterns that undermine accountability.
9 min read
Board & governance
Paying for Performance: A Board's Guide to Designing CEO Compensation That Actually Aligns Interests
CEO compensation is one of the board's most scrutinized responsibilities—and most frequently bungled. Good intentions produce bad outcomes when design is poor. Here's how boards can structure CEO pay that genuinely aligns interests, motivates performance, and withstands shareholder and public scrutiny.
7 min read
Board & governance
The Pay Paradox: 8 Ways Boards Get CEO Compensation Wrong and Destroy Shareholder Value
CEO compensation should align executive and shareholder interests. Instead, it often rewards the wrong behaviors, creates perverse incentives, and generates public relations disasters. Here's how boards get compensation wrong—and the patterns that turn pay packages into value destruction.
9 min read
Board & governance
The Board's Transition Playbook: How Directors Can Set New CEOs Up for Success Without Hovering
Boards select CEOs—but then often abandon them to sink or swim alone. The first 100 days is when new CEOs most need board support, yet most boards disengage after the announcement. Here's how boards can provide the support that determines transition success—without micromanaging or undermining.
8 min read
Board & governance
The Honeymoon That Wasn't: 8 Ways New CEOs Destroy Their Tenure Before It Begins
The first 100 days determine whether a CEO will succeed or fail. New CEOs who move too fast, too slow, or in the wrong direction create problems that haunt their entire tenure. Here's how promising CEO appointments become early casualties—and the warning signs that predict derailment.
9 min read
Board & governance
The First 100 Days: A CEO's Playbook for Building the Foundation That Determines Your Tenure
The first 100 days are when CEO tenure is won or lost. Not through dramatic moves, but through deliberate relationship building, careful learning, and strategic early action. Here's the playbook for new CEOs who want to build a foundation that enables lasting success.
9 min read
Board & governance
Beyond Deal Approval: How Boards Can Govern M&A From Strategy Through Integration
Boards approve deals, but most stop there. Real M&A governance extends from strategic rationale through integration completion. Here's how boards can provide effective M&A oversight without micromanaging—and how to know when management needs challenge versus support.
8 min read
Board & governance
The Board in the Storm: How Directors Can Provide Crisis Oversight Without Getting in the Way
When crisis hits, boards face a paradox: they're responsible for the company's welfare but can't run the response. Too much involvement creates chaos; too little leaves management unsupported. Here's how boards can provide effective crisis oversight while letting management lead.
8 min read