Plenary Session: CEO and Board Psychology

Leo Tolstoy opens his famous novel, Anna Karenina, with the claim that “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Are boards much the same? This session takes a psychological approach to the examination of boardroom dynamics, and the relationships between and among directors and CEOs. We will explore human factors that can impair board functionality and steps that can help improve those relationships. We will address difficult questions such as how to replace individual directors, and how to go about a CEO replacement. We will also examine evolving practices such as the use of coaches to enhance executive performance, and techniques for enhancing the value of board self-evaluations. In addition, we will consider how activists rely on social pressure and other psychological factors to increase their probability of success as insurgents.