Few relationships define a company’s success more than the one between its board and its CEO. When the partnership works, it creates better strategic decisions and stronger trust. When it fails, boards can become adversarial, disengaged or overly intrusive.
Beverly Behan, a global expert on board effectiveness, has spent decades advising organizations on navigating this dynamic. In this episode from our Board Excellence Series, she shares practical guidance on how boards and CEOs can build a more effective working relationship.
1. Move toward collaborative oversight
When Beverly first began advising boards in the late 1990s, boards were largely symbolic bodies, where appointments were often seen as a reward rather than a responsibility.
“They were like the hood ornament on a Mercedes Benz or a Jaguar,” she recalls. “They looked very impressive, but they were functionally useless.”
Corporate governance scandals in the early 2000s pushed boards to take oversight more seriously, with many shifting into what Beverly calls “reporting out mode”, where management presents proposals and directors focus on questioning assumptions.
Today, the most effective organizations go a step further, creating a more collaborative dynamic in the boardroom. “This is where the board asks those tough questions, but they play more of a sounding board role,” she explains. “And management is actively trying to leverage the board’s experience so that it adds more value.”
2. Understand what a high-performing relationship looks like
Beverly often conducts interviews with both directors and senior executives to understand how board dynamics are functioning in practice. Those conversations reveal the difference between boards that simply monitor management and those that actively contribute to better decision-making.
“One of the best things about my job is working with our board,” one executive told her. “They stretch my thinking, they bring up important points and different perspectives on the issues I’m grappling with. And when they confirm my approach, which is usually the case, it’s invaluable.”
When boards understand what a high-performing relationship looks like, they become a source of insight and challenge that helps management make better decisions.
3. Regularly evaluate the board’s performance
For organizations looking to improve their board-CEO relationship, the first step is often understanding how well the board is functioning.
“The most practical tool I would recommend is a board evaluation,” she says. “I think they are the single most underrated tool in corporate governance, not only in North America, but worldwide.”
Too often, however, these evaluations become little more than survey exercises that produce limited insight. Beverly argues that the most valuable evaluations rely on confidential interviews rather than checklists, allowing directors and executives to speak openly about how the board operates.
4. Don’t underestimate the time and effort involved
For newly appointed CEOs, managing the board relationship can be one of the most unexpected challenges of the role. Many executives spend years reporting to a single supervisor before stepping into the CEO position, where they suddenly become accountable to an entire group.
“Many CEOs view their chair or their lead director as their boss, but they’re really not,” says Beverly. “They need to make the time to cultivate a working relationship with everybody on the board.”
The time commitment required can also come as a surprise. Preparing for board meetings, attending them, debriefing afterward and maintaining ongoing conversations with directors can consume around 25% of a CEO’s time.
5. Put trust and transparency first
Trust is the foundation of any effective board-CEO relationship. The most successful leaders approach the board with openness and transparency from the start.
“The number one rule is: don’t surprise the board,” Beverly says. “They shouldn’t be reading about something that happened in the Financial Times or The Wall Street Journal.”
At the same time, strong CEOs treat the board as a strategic asset rather than an administrative obligation. Instead of viewing governance purely as oversight, they actively draw on the experience and perspective around the boardroom table.
That relationship also requires balance. “One of the biggest criticisms of unhappy directors is they feel the CEO is dismissive of their views. They don’t feel listened to,” she warns. “At the same time, they don’t respect a CEO who’s a pushover.”
Watch the Board Excellence Series
Beverly’s insights are part of our Ideals Board Excellence Series, where governance leaders share practical lessons on strengthening board effectiveness.
Register for the full series for more perspectives on how boards can build the skills, transparency and leadership needed for long-term success.