The Case and
Call for Action

The 2025 NACD Blue Ribbon Commission Report on Building a High-Trust Board-CEO Relationship explores escalating pressures on boards and CEOs, and the urgent need for a more collaborative and trust-based partnership.

The Case for Action

The demands on boards, individual directors, and CEOs are rapidly escalating. Technological disruption, geopolitical tensions, societal change, and heightened stakeholder scrutiny are fundamentally reshaping how companies compete and succeed, placing immense pressure on leadership and relentlessly testing board-CEO dynamics.

The board-CEO relationship, therefore, must evolve accordingly into a much more collaborative and constructive partnership. When aligned in purpose and practice, this relationship can be a competitive advantage in this fast-moving environment, one that drives agile decision-making, organizational resilience, and long-term value creation.

External survey data underscore the growing strain on this relationship. Only 37 percent of CEOs agreed that the board collectively “has the CEO’s back,” compared to 47 percent of directors who believe they do. Further, directors rated the board’s value more highly than the CEOs did, revealing both a trust gap and a perception gap that could fuel misalignment and missed opportunities for collaboration.

Commission discussions identified three interrelated trends that are putting pressure on the board-CEO relationship and sparking a renewed focus on it.

1. Greater scrutiny of CEO performance.

A Commissioner observed, “There is more churn and turmoil and more pressure for CEOs to perform.” In 2024, activist campaigns led to 27 CEO exits, nearly three times the number in 2020. A record 43 CEOs departed within their first three years, as investors showed declining patience for (perceived) underperformance. Public, private, and nonprofit companies are being challenged by a broader group of activist stakeholders on issues extending beyond financial outcomes. In some instances, the mere presence or influence of an activist can prompt boards to replace CEOs. A Commissioner noted, “CEOs are increasingly expected to act like ‘public officials,’ becoming more visible, identifiable, and accountable to multiple stakeholders.”