CEO and Chief Consultant Cynthia Goodwin, ICD.D, recently delivered a webinar to Governance Professionals Canada - Atlantic Chapter members on how boards can effectively navigate CEO challenges and crises. 👇 When not handled well, CEO issues ranging from performance or health issues to strategic misalignment and ethical matters can create long-term financial harm, reputational damage and/or operational disruption. What can boards do? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 1. Hire the right CEO for the job, considering all communities of interest. 2. Be clear about board and CEO roles and responsibilities, prioritizing communication. 3. Fulfil your fiduciary duty with an appropriate duty of care (aka do the work!). This includes setting and overseeing strategy, and overseeing risk, financials, policy, CEO performance, etc. 4. Create and keep current short- and long-term succession plans. 5. Ensure a well-functioning board. 6. Have a dedicated budget and a list of third-party legal, HR and communications advisors that the board can access on its own. 7. Govern with empathy and care – being a CEO is a lonely, tough job. Have other suggestions? Please include them in the comments!
Great advice - thank you!
This is great Cynthia Goodwin, ICD.D! Congratulations and excellent work!
Insightful as always! Great work Cynthia!
Director, Strategy at CC Goodwin Consulting | Experience Curator, Brand Strategist & Purpose-Driven Marketer
1moGreat insights, Cynthia! I particularly appreciate the emphasis on empathy and care. That human element really makes all the difference in tough situations.