
Strategic Lessons From Trump’s 10 Commandments
How boards can back their CEOs when they feel pressured by government.
Corporate Board Member
Since 1998, Corporate Board Member has served as the preeminent board leadership publication for directors and senior executives of publicly traded companies.
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Analysis and perspective on the most important governance issues facing boards today.

How boards can back their CEOs when they feel pressured by government.

There’s often a lack of understanding as to what AI aptitude a board should have. These four AI archetypes can help boards start to decipher what expertise they need.

As market conditions swiftly change, an open-minded approach to board composition and business strategy is crucial. Here’s what boards should consider.

Does your board struggle with top-quality decision-making? Blame your biology, say experts at Corporate Board Member’s Director Forum in Scottsdale. Three simple things will improve the situation dramatically—and immediately.

As investor influence expands beyond earnings season, companies need better ways to control their narrative.

Here’s how compensation committees can review and adjust performance-based LTI goals after an acquisition to align incentives and drive value in both small and large deals.
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Raj Gupta, veteran of 15 public company boards, including Hewlett-Packard, DuPont, Tyco, Arconic, Airgas and Delphi/Aptiv, says a new era of disruption requires a new kind of governance. More strategic. More engaged. More focused. His playbook for a brittle, anxious, nonlinear and incomprehensible world.

With informers and subpoenas, the Trump administration wants to root out preferences of any kind.

As history shows, boards that cling to static models risk falling behind. Here are six strategic moves to help boards refresh their composition, stay ahead of disruption, and build governance fit for the future.

An M&A surge has seemed imminent for years, but even a more favorable regulatory environment, increased private equity sales and strong corporate balance sheets may not be enough to get things going in 2026.

Record-high turnover at the top hasn’t unnerved boards, but a new survey by Corporate Board Member and Farient Advisors points to potential vulnerabilities.

Recognized with the Greatest Impact on Corporate Boards Award for her work leading key rule-making initiatives, former SEC Chair Mary Jo White shares insights on what boards navigating today’s regulatory climate need to know now.
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Does your board struggle with top-quality decision-making? Blame your biology, say experts at Corporate Board Member’s Director Forum in Scottsdale. Three simple things will improve the situation dramatically—and immediately.

As AI spreads through decisions, relationships and value creation, the board’s job isn’t to chase tools, but to define principles, test tradeoffs and protect the human judgments an organization can’t afford to automate away.

A quick guide to understanding the legal implications.

A growing number of directors believe someone on their board should be replaced. But performance isn’t just about who’s in the room, but about how they work together. From governance culture to consensus-building, these strategies can help every board raise its game.

The rapidly spreading autonomous agentic AI system highlights how agent-based technologies are advancing faster than controls. Here’s what boards can do now.

Your audit playbook wasn’t built for AI. That’s a regulatory blind spot—and enforcement actions are coming.

How boards can back their CEOs when they feel pressured by government.

There’s often a lack of understanding as to what AI aptitude a board should have. These four AI archetypes can help boards start to decipher what expertise they need.

As market conditions swiftly change, an open-minded approach to board composition and business strategy is crucial. Here’s what boards should consider.

Does your board struggle with top-quality decision-making? Blame your biology, say experts at Corporate Board Member’s Director Forum in Scottsdale. Three simple things will improve the situation dramatically—and immediately.

As investor influence expands beyond earnings season, companies need better ways to control their narrative.

Even as boards face rising pressure from anti-DEI activists, directors can safeguard board diversity by shifting from easily attacked written policies to resilient, performance-driven selection practices.

As market conditions swiftly change, an open-minded approach to board composition and business strategy is crucial. Here’s what boards should consider.

The Supreme Court just invalidated most of the president’s tariffs. Before you exhale, perhaps ask a few questions of your team.

Raj Gupta, veteran of 15 public company boards, including Hewlett-Packard, DuPont, Tyco, Arconic, Airgas and Delphi/Aptiv, says a new era of disruption requires a new kind of governance. More strategic. More engaged. More focused. His playbook for a brittle, anxious, nonlinear and incomprehensible world.

Boards can no longer treat immigration enforcement as a distant policy fight; raids, protests and worker shortages are creating immediate reputational, operational and ESG risks that demand a clear stance.

How Miteva’s board reads systemic signals instead of reacting to headlines—and why that lens will define which boards find opportunity in the decade ahead.

In an age where competitive advantage erodes quickly, leaders must embrace deliberate innovation and course correction early. Insights for a winning formula.

Here’s how compensation committees can review and adjust performance-based LTI goals after an acquisition to align incentives and drive value in both small and large deals.

How private companies can benchmark and design competitive director pay that fits their governance needs and the talent market.

Five questions every compensation committee should ask when evaluating pay programs.

What public company boards need to know—and can learn from—private equity company compensation practices

For-profit subsidiaries seeking to recruit, retain, and motivate top talent can face unique challenges when it comes to designing effective LTI plans.

A successfully designed performance-payout slope is central to aligning executive incentives with sustained value creation.

There’s often a lack of understanding as to what AI aptitude a board should have. These four AI archetypes can help boards start to decipher what expertise they need.

As AI spreads through decisions, relationships and value creation, the board’s job isn’t to chase tools, but to define principles, test tradeoffs and protect the human judgments an organization can’t afford to automate away.

Five steps boards can take to ensure businesses are ready for an AI-enabled world.

The rapidly spreading autonomous agentic AI system highlights how agent-based technologies are advancing faster than controls. Here’s what boards can do now.

New Moments Lab chair JP Maheu on building a board that can read the AI market, move at startup speed and still keep its eye on resilient, customer driven growth.

How Miteva’s board reads systemic signals instead of reacting to headlines—and why that lens will define which boards find opportunity in the decade ahead.

Four ways boards can identify CEOs with the judgment, agility and enterprise leadership required to navigate an unpredictable future.

From unexpected exits to activist pressure, boards are facing more CEO transitions. Planning for an interim leader could be your smartest move.

With CEO turnover accelerating and leadership trust eroding, succession planning is no longer optional—it’s a strategic imperative. Here’s how both outgoing and incoming CEOs can lead smoother transitions and protect long-term value in an era of constant change.

Succession planning is taking center stage in boardrooms in 2025, with more directors than ever identifying it as a top strategic priority amid rising executive turnover and mounting leadership pressures.

After a year of losses and controversy, it’s time for Tesla’s board to confront hard truths—and maybe harder decisions.

As succession battles roil even the most successful family businesses, directors must navigate power struggles, personal loyalties, and governance gaps—often without clear legal guardrails. Here’s how to keep the peace and preserve the enterprise.

As investor influence expands beyond earnings season, companies need better ways to control their narrative.

Boards should lean into early shareholder engagement, tighter legal framing and proactive transparency on workforce metrics to reduce litigation risk and preserve flexibility.

How vote projections guide board decision-making on proxy proposals.

The targeted companies (and others) will now need to determine whether their company is engaged in any controversial social issues and develop strategies to defend against having their business policies labeled as “woke,” or worse, illegal.

Research suggests proxy advisors’ influence on shareholder votes is far more limited than critics claim, raising questions about whether restrictive executive orders are the right policy response.

Despite fewer campaigns being launched, activists are winning at unprecedented rates—and settling in record time. This shift signals a new era of shareholder activism where quality trumps quantity, leaving boards scrambling to defend their independence.

Even as boards face rising pressure from anti-DEI activists, directors can safeguard board diversity by shifting from easily attacked written policies to resilient, performance-driven selection practices.

The difference between ‘useless’ and ‘fantastic’ isn’t always performance—sometimes it comes down to chemistry.

With informers and subpoenas, the Trump administration wants to root out preferences of any kind.

In today’s climate of volatility and reinvention, boards that view workforce planning as an HR sidebar are missing a vital lever for value creation.

How boards can understand, oversee and hold management accountable for building and sustaining a resilient corporate culture.

A new workforce study shows today’s workers are feeling the squeeze from flatter management layers, tighter salaries and more.

Boards should lean into early shareholder engagement, tighter legal framing and proactive transparency on workforce metrics to reduce litigation risk and preserve flexibility.

Meta just paid $190 million to settle a privacy lawsuit—and it won’t be the last. With privacy laws multiplying across the globe and AI raising new risks, boards need to make three critical moves before 2026.

Research suggests proxy advisors’ influence on shareholder votes is far more limited than critics claim, raising questions about whether restrictive executive orders are the right policy response.

Supply chain compliance cannot be about just avoiding penalties. It needs to be about building trust and agility for operations to thrive.

With informers and subpoenas, the Trump administration wants to root out preferences of any kind.

In the wake of Trump’s trade wars, pricing continues to be a potential strategy to manage additional levies—but it doesn’t come without risk.

Shareholder activism is on the rise and could accelerate under the Trump administration, which will bring new focus to the role of proxy advisory firms.

Elon Musk’s recent bid for the Tesla board to invest in his new AI startup leads to questions about where boards should draw the line.

A letter the shareholders sent to the board suggests several factors that might have influenced these directors to step down.

The possibility of a CEO using or abusing illegal substances or prescription drugs presents several questions for the boardroom.

C-Suites will soon be responsible for integrating modern sustainability strategies within their organizations’ financial reporting—and boards will be responsible for oversight—but many don’t know where to start or how to track emissions.

Unless the answer is a definitive “no,” the time is now to lay the groundwork for the reporting requirements.

New appointments highlight a strong preference for seasoned leaders with global and cross-sector expertise—prompting fresh questions about board succession and generational balance.

New to board service? These recommendations can help put you on the right foot in your first role—and serve as a guide for improvement.

From intensifying shareholder expectations to ever-evolving technology and pricing strategies, directors share insights on navigating the cross-currents facing today’s boards.

From sports achievement and political stardom to stellar service in corporate boardrooms, J.C. Watts shares the elements of an approach that has made him America’s top value-creating director. ‘If there’s no integrity, strategy doesn’t matter.’

The ruling may ease some directors’ minds, but it doesn’t mean the end to similar lawsuits in the future. Here’s what boards should consider now.

Listen well, speak your mind and if you don’t know something, don’t bluff. Advice for that first foray into the boardroom.