2025 Public Company Board Practices Oversight Survey

Data Pack: Board-CEO Relationship

07/28/2025

 

What are the biggest barriers to building and sustaining an effective board-CEO relationship?

 

Barriers

Value

Ineffective information flow between the board and CEO

38.36%

Unclear communication of board’s expectations of CEO

37.67%

Conflicting priorities between the board and CEO

36.30%

Unclear delineation of the role of the board versus the role of management

28.77%

Insufficient CEO focus on building relationships

25.34%

Interpersonal conflicts and unhealthy board culture

20.55%

Insufficient board focus on building relationships

18.49%

Complications arising from the combined board chair-CEO structure

10.96%

None

8.22%

Other

6.16%

 

n=146

 

This table comes from the Board-CEO Relationship section of the 2025 NACD Public Company Board Practices and Oversight Survey.