Director expertise has a shorter shelf life than ever, and boards are starting to notice.
In PwC’s 2026 Annual Corporate Directors Survey, 55% of directors say someone on their board should get the boot. Among those directors, 39% cite insufficient expertise as the reason why, nearly double the percentage in 2025. Yet when it comes to board recruitment, 81% of directors rate cultural alignment as “very important,” while only 27% say the same of specialized expertise.
The challenge board leaders face is finding T-shaped directors: executives with deep expertise in one area, and enough business breadth to contribute meaningfully across the whole board agenda. It’s easy to find people with expertise, it’s harder to find experts who can simultaneously engage deeply, connect the dots across a range of areas, and offer wise counsel. Add in the need to align with the current boardroom culture – or the culture the chair is trying to create – and the challenge only increases.
This might be why as director concerns of insufficient expertise around the boardroom increases, CEO confidence in their boards steadily decreases.
Recent research by my Russell Reynolds Associates colleagues Maggie Benkert, Ela Buczynska, Gabrielle Lieberman, Amy M. Sampson, and Joy Tan, leveraging data from our long running Leadership Confidence Index, finds that “As both the complexity and breadth of issues requiring oversight grows, boards have assumed an increasingly expansive mandate. Yet many have not held operating roles in this changed environment, nor engaged fully with the continuous education needed to meet evolving expectations. Meanwhile, CEOs are on the front lines of rapid disruption, and are understandably looking for even more strategic guidance and risk mitigation support from their boards.”
Innovation and disruption have become near constant challenges. Director knowledge and currency have a shorter and shorter shelf life as a result. The need for director education and development increases, as will the need for board leaders to undertake more robust and dynamic board refreshment activities. To do otherwise will be to frustrate directors and CEOs alike.