Boards That Lead - by Ram Charan & Dennis Carey & Michael Useem (Hardcover)

About the Book

"A Call to Leadership. The role of the corporate board has changed. Today's smartest CEOs have used this to their benefit. But increased board control and involvement also has its downsides. This book, from three leading experts in the field, serves as a guide to help take advantage of board oversight while avoiding the pitfalls. Boardroom veterans Ram Charan, Dennis Carey, and Michael Useem have this to say to today's leaders: Chief executives must run the corporation, but directors must also lead the corporation on the most crucial issues. Monitoring and governance matters, but the time has come to rebalance the responsibilities of the board. Directors need to know when to take charge, when to partner, and when to get out of the way. Charan, Carey, and Useem describe this emerging trend and argue that its overall impact on business performance will be positive. They offer a new roadmap both to CEOs and directors so that senior executives can better balance board oversight with their day-to-day operations of the firm, and directors have a better understanding of when to lead, when to partner, and when to stay out of the way. Based on work with and study of board leaders and chief executives of Fortune 500 firms across the globe, Boards that Lead is that new roadmap, showing what this new partnership model of leadership looks like-and how to make it work. "--

Book Synopsis

Is your firm's board creating value--or destroying it?

Change is coming. Leadership at the top is being redefined as boards take a more active role in decisions that once belonged solely to the CEO. But for all the advantages of increased board engagement, it can create debilitating questions of authority and dangerous meddling in day-to-day operations. Directors need a new road map--for when to lead, when to partner, and when to stay out of the way.

Boardroom veterans Ram Charan, Dennis Carey, and Michael Useem advocate this new governance model--a sharp departure from what has been demanded by governance activists, raters, and regulators--and reveal the emerging practices that are defining shared leadership of directors and executives. Based on personal interviews and the authors' broad and deep experience working with executives and directors from dozens of the world's largest firms, including Apple, Boeing, Ford, Infosys, and Lenovo, Boards That Lead tells the inside story behind the successes and pitfalls of this new leadership model and explains how to:

- Define the central idea of the company
- Ensure that the right CEO is in place and potential successors are identified
- Recruit directors who add value
- Root out board dysfunction
- Select a board leader who deftly bridges the divide between management and the board
- Set a high bar on ethics and risk

With a total of eighteen checklists that will transform board directors from monitors to leaders, Charan, Carey, and Useem provide a smart and practical guide for businesspeople everywhere--whether they occupy the boardroom or the C-suite.

Review Quotes

Directors & Boards magazine's "Governance Book of the Year."

"... a must for anyone who sits on a major corporate board--or who wants to understand them.... Their very helpful book provides lessons from their experiences, as well as practical advice to others going through the transformation." -- Wall Street Journal

"The writers know their stuff...the authors know their audience." -- Financial Times

"... a compelling account of a new leadership model for the modern corporation..." - Directors & Boards magazine

"The authors - Ram Charan, Dennis Carey, and Michael Useem--each an expert and practitioner in the field, throw a lot of insights on how companies can benefit from having boards that work rather than just exist." -- Financial Express (India)

" a wise and comprehensive book." -- The Globe and Mail

"The summarised action points at the end of each chapter allows busy readers to takeaway key thoughts to chew on at their own time of reflection." -- BusinessLeadershipManagement (BLM), The Executives Magazine

"Leadership at the top is being redefined as boards take a more active role in decisions that once belonged solely to the CEO. Ram Charan, Dennis Carey and Michael Useem advocate a new governance model and reveal the emerging practices that are defining shared leadership of directors and executives. With a total of eighteen checklists that will transform board directors from monitors to leaders, Charan, Carey and Useem provide a smart and practical guide for business people everywhere - whether they occupy the boardroom or the C-suite." -- Strategic Management Bureau (UK)

ADVANCE PRAISE for Boards That Lead:

Alan Mulally, CEO and President, 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."

Fred Hassan, Managing Director (Healthcare), Warburg Pincus; Chairman and director, Bausch + Lomb; former Chairman and CEO, Schering-Plough; former lead director, Avon Products; director, Time Warner--
"This book shows how, through leading, partnering, and delegating, boards are now starting to shape the architecture of the company in unprecedented ways. This book is rich with stories--there is nothing like learning from three world-leading practitioners on advancing board capabilities to get the company to raise its game."

Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., President and CEO, TIAA-CREF--
"Boards That Lead offers an illuminating road map for how a board of directors can effectively engage and motivate its corporate management team to successfully navigate even the most complex of situations. This book should be on the 'must-read' list of every corporate board member and senior executive."

Ivan G. Seidenberg, former Chairman and CEO, Verizon Communications; former Chairman, Business Roundtable--
"This research, complete with compelling anecdotes and practical information, brilliantly explores how creative, flexible, and innovative processes provide the foundation for long-term, sustainable partnerships between the board and the companies they serve. This work captures the true innovation intended to guide the leadership mandate for any board."

Maggie Wilderotter, Chairman and CEO, Frontier Communications; director, Procter & Gamble and Xerox Corporation--
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About the Author

Ram Charan is a business adviser who has worked with executives and directors of many companies, including DuPont, GE, Novartis, Verizon, and RBS Group (Brazil). He has served on the Harvard Business School faculty, teaches in Wharton Executive Education, and serves on the board of Hindalco (India). He is the author of eighteen books.

Dennis Carey is Vice Chairman of Korn/Ferry International. He has placed some of the most prominent chief executives and corporate directors in the United States, including those at 3M, American Express, Goldman Sachs, GSK, Humana, MCI, and Tyco International. This is his fourth book on CEO succession and corporate governance.

Michael Useem is a professor of management and the director of the Center for Leadership and Change Management at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. He offers courses on leadership and has authored books on leadership and corporate governance, including The Leadership Moment and Investor Capitalism.