The success of the CEO has always been fully intertwined, sometimes even indistinguishable, with that of the entity. So what has changed in recent periods? It’s that CEOs are dealing with the pressures, disruptions, changing environment, and more – all day, every day – and just as much as boards are, however, CEOs often feel that they’re doing it alone. While they have their teams and their boards, it remains very lonely at the top, because CEOs have very few judgement-free, true confidants. It’s hardly surprising that CEO turnover hit records in 2024-2025 as the role grows more challenging, requires new skills, and leaves little room for error.
In 2026, boards will have a delicate balance to strike, ensuring open channels of communication, deepening trust, and intellectually partnering with their top executive, even while leaving space for them to lead, write the strategy, and own the outcomes. Supporting a CEO while holding them to account is an artform in and of itself.
Respect Remits: The first principle of a healthy board-CEO relationship? Respecting each other’s roles and responsibilities. It’s all but impossible to build trust if one party finds the other is frequently second-guessing their decisions. Should challenging dynamics in this area emerge, one approach to resolution is to draw clear boundaries: Which responsibilities belong to the board, which to management, which are shared? Should you find differences of opinion about who “owns” some roles, seek clarity on your respective remits and be cognizant of inadvertently stepping on toes. If the board finds itself stepping over the line often and/or intentionally, it needs to have an honest conversation about whether its members lack confidence in the CEO or lack self-awareness of their behaviors. If either of these situations are the case, a remedy is likely in order.
Speak Up, Embody Professionalism: With so much in motion and at stake, everyone should expect that decisions will be trickier to arrive at and will require all parties to deliver honest opinions and challenge each other’s thinking. The corollary is also true: board members and CEO alike must be willing to let their thinking be challenged and dig deep to not take it personally.
In addition, little is more damaging to board-CEO relationships, and potentially to their organization, than being blind-sided. Boards rightfully expect the CEO to alert them to bad news, telegraph changes to plans or forecasts, and keep them apprised of any movement that could have a substantive impact on the business. However, keeping the channels of communication open is a shared responsibility. When board members respond to unexpected news with professionalism, and usually empathy for the leader who is dealing with unforeseen challenges, they encourage ongoing transparency. In contrast, when boards chastise or engage in a blistering inquisition of a CEO who delivers difficult news, they may discourage leadership from rushing straight to the board with disappointing updates. Aim to keep everyone focused on the shared goal of success and nip unproductive behaviors in the bud.
Be Generous with Feedback: In an ideal world, it’s not so lonely at the top, even if it will always be a bit noisy. For a CEO to be their most effective, they need regular feedback: What’s going well, where can they do better? Board members often have a perspective on meetings—how useful they found the presentations, where they want to see more or different data or analysis. Having directors share that feedback with the chair in an executive session at the close of every meeting, and the chair then delivering a recap to the CEO, can be very helpful in aligning board and CEO expectations.
Equally important is an annual review, ideally a 360 process that gathers perspectives from all board members and the leadership team. Having an independent third-party facilitate a confidential process eliminates any risk of bias, can surface challenges before they become problematic, and is helpful to the chair, as it ensures objective data from all cohorts. While regular, informal feedback as well as a more structured evaluation are both immensely valuable to a CEO’s growth and development, the formal review also serves as a critical component of board oversight.
Plan for the Future: Succession is a challenging topic for CEOs, and often for the boards whose role it is to ensure that a plan is in place. This is especially true today, given the high rates of turnover. An emergency succession plan is a must-have for all boards: Should the unthinkable happen, you don’t want to be starting from zero to name a leader, even if interim, much less communicate with stakeholders, and provide reassurance and stability at a distressing moment. Equally important is ensuring that your board is actively engaged in longer-term succession planning, which may prove more complex but is nevertheless a key board responsibility. Formalizing and documenting a CEO Succession Planning process, including communications protocols, decision-making guidelines and a structured approach to identifying internal and external candidates, is a critical to effective governance. Done well, succession planning sets a tone for evaluating talent and adopting development plans throughout the organization.
Conclusion
As 2026 begins, boards have both a challenge and an opportunity to engage with an informed perspective, market relevance, and leadership commitment. By sharpening their role in strategy, aligning director capabilities with evolving demands, and tuning the partnership with the CEO, boards can position themselves to weather possible disruption and help shape what comes next. The most effective boards will be those that look forward with purpose and act with clarity.
