The country’s economic crisis has shed a bright spotlight on the management of companies by chief executive officers and raised questions relating to CEO performance. Billions in taxpayers’ money have been given to auto companies and financial institutions, including $170 billion to failed insurance conglomerate AIG. In March, when AIG distributed roughly $165 million in […]

The government bailed out Citigroup. The chief executives of the Big Three automakers asked for $25 billion in loans. There will undoubtedly be more corporations asking the government for financial help. Many people are asking, and rightly so, “Who’s been minding the store?” Many Americans are frustrated and angry. How could corporate leadership allow their […]

The 2009 Spencer Stuart Board Index was released in October and while there are no huge surprises, I believe the data signals a shifting center of gravity in corporate governance – a move toward independence, commitment, and accountability. Consider these highlights from the Spencer Stuart study of the S & P 500 companies for 2009. […]

Last month, I was delighted to participate in the Yale Governance Forum, an annual event that is organized by The Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance at their Yale School of Management and attended by more than 300 global directors and academics. The focus of this year’s meeting was to examine changes and uncertainty […]

As I work on this column, Patricia Dunn, former non-executive chairman of Hewlett-Packard’s board, is preparing to testify before Congress about recent revelations that HP was spying on its own board members. As the lead director of a public corporate board, I’ve watched the situation deteriorate and important lessons surface. These lessons have applications for […]