The job of CEO has become so complex that boards can no longer play a passive role as a collection of the CEO’s best friends, rubber-stamping management’s decisions. A new Deloitte CEO-Board study released today suggests that many of these leaders are looking to their boards for help, validation for their changing business models and vision for the future.
The research from Deloitte’s Chief Executive Program, Seven Steps to a More Strategic Board: What CEOs Need to Know, examines this new dynamic in detail — and particularly the ways CEOs need to engage with their boards to get the necessary support to succeed. Among the concepts assessed are CEOs’ needs to:
- Take an active role in shaping board effectiveness
- Embrace tension and use disagreement as a springing point for discussion
- Interact with board members between meetings
- Present carefully and multiply curated information to the board
- Think carefully before agreeing to chair while holding the CEO role
- Be forthright about board composition
- Cultivate a frank, transparent communication style
Download your free copy of the report below.