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Boards That Lead

Boards That Lead reveals how corporate boards are moving beyond oversight to play an active role in shaping strategy and leadership. Ram Charan, Dennis Carey, and Michael Useem outline when boards should lead, when to partner with management, and when to step back. Drawing on interviews and real-world examples from companies like Apple, Boeing, and Ford, they provide practical tools and checklists to help directors create value rather than destroy it.

Themes
Redefining Board Leadership
Governance in Action
Practical Tools for Directors
Boards That Lead
  • Ivan Seidenberg, 
    former CEO, Verizon

    "By detailing the evolution of board dynamics in the post-Sabanes-Oxley environment and providing insight into new best practices, Ram Charan has developed a comprehensive guide to creating and maintaining a next-generation board. These pages will help every executive stay ahead of the curve—with winning strategies for prospective board members, as well as for executives trying to develop their boards and management teams."

  • John A. Krol
    former CEO, Dupont

    "Boards today are striving to improve in a very dynamic environment. Based on years of hands on experience and building on the breakthrough ideas of Boards at Work, Charan provides practical, actionable ideas to move boards to a higher level of performance¾to make a step change improvement in the quality of their governance. It's a must read for new and experienced directors alike."

  • Geoffrey Colvin
    senior editor at large, Fortune

    "For boards, this is it—the guide every director needs, from the world authority on how real boards work today."

  • Richard H. Brown
    Director, Home Depot and DuPont

    "This excellent book will help countless managers and directors. A practical masterpiece!"

  • William T. Solomon
    former Chairman and CEO, Austin Industries

    "I offer high praise for Boards That Deliver, the latest creation from the fertile mind of Ram Charan! Timely, relevant, and succinct—this could be Charan’s best work to date."

  • Maggie Wilderotter
    former CEO, Frontier Communications

    “Boards That Lead is chock full of real-world examples that directors can use to improve their leadership and decision making—an impressive one-stop shop outlining board member roles, responsibilities, and actions, including the boundaries that boards and companies often fail to recognize. The checklists for putting this advice into action are comprehensive and practical— the best I have seen.”

  • Alan Mulally
    former CEO, Ford Motor Company

    “Boards That Lead provides the essential road map for corporate leadership. With gripping accounts and compelling illustrations, Charan, Carey, and Useem show how directors can lead in strategic partnership with company executives. This is a game changer, required reading for all who seek to bring out the best in their boards.”

Boards That Lead

"It is your job as a leader to steer the company through inflation, whether or not you have practice at it. That means fully understanding how inflation touches every part of the business and enlisting the help of others in the company to combat it. Hunkering down until the Federal Reserve fixes things is not a viable plan..."

Boards That Lead
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