Business
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The Swiss government’s gender guidelines, which mandate that large companies have a minimum of 30 percent women at the supervisory board level, and 20 percent at the executive level, or explain why not, has so far resulted in little improvement in gender diversity. The twenty companies comprising the Swiss Market Index (SMI) are currently 21…
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Leaders with a ‘Sustainable Mindset’ Can Help Solve Societal Problems [World Economic Forum]
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1 min read
The past year has highlighted what will likely be an ongoing challenge for years to come: the increasing frequency of challenges leaders must face that impact the economy, environment and society simultaneously. From pandemics to large-scale environmental disasters, to uprisings over societal injustice, it is clear that we need problem-solvers who can transcend silos –…
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Maintaining Diversity & Inclusion During Workforce Reductions [Russell Reynolds Associates]
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2 min read
The COVID-19 pandemic has been incredibly disruptive to organizations, with many having to make the difficult decision to reduce their workforce as a result of lost revenue. Companies that are going through layoffs have to contend with a multitude of complicated issues, and often neglect to take into consideration the impact those actions will have…
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The Board’s Impact on Long-term Value [Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance]
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2 min read
Taking a long-term approach in business leads to superior performance. Companies that orient themselves around a long-term time horizon while also delivering against short-term objectives have been shown to outperform their peers on several key business measures, including revenue, earnings, economic profit, market capitalization and job creation. These companies were hit hard during the last…
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The COVID-19 crisis has increased the demand for board insight, oversight, and advice, while boards attempt to adapt to new ways of working, new tools, and new structures. Many have stepped up as a powerful sounding board for stressed CEOs. Other boards struggle, not contributing as needed or causing unnecessary distractions. Despite the fact that…
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In February 1992, General Motors announced that it had lost $4.5 billion the prior year, then the worst ever annual loss for an American corporation. In the short-term, things didn’t get better. Losses the following year totaled $23.5 billion. In the middle of this bleak period, GM’s board took decisive steps. The company’s chairman and…
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Board Leadership and Performance in a Crisis [Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance]
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2 min read
Every industry across the globe has faced a crisis at some point in time. While most large companies survive, many struggle for years following a period of severe adversity. Others prevail and become stronger than before. How companies address crises has changed over time, as has the role of the board. Amid COVID-19’s rapid spread…
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Few senior leaders have faced a challenge in their career as severe and potentially consequential as the Coronavirus pandemic and its global impact. Leaders who often rely on pattern recognition and past experience are finding that today’s issues have no historical comparison. This period is a truly novel test of their leadership ability – and…
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In 2020, the world entered an unprecedented economic era, triggered by a global pandemic and the contemporaneous collapse in commodity prices, demand for certain goods and services, and a breakdown in supply chains. This was further fueled by constraints on productivity and consumerism due to a need to practice social distancing and to shelter in…
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Even in the best of circumstances, leadership transitions are tough. Failure rates are estimated at 40 percent, and it often takes 6 months or longer for a new leader to get to breakeven productivity levels. Today, as leaders are operating in the most challenging circumstances most have ever faced, executive transitions are even harder. If…
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Leadership in a Pandemic [Chief Executive]
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1 min read
Pandemics are unlike any other challenge we face as leaders. There are no words to fully describe the feeling of dread when you find out one of your colleagues has fallen ill. There are also no words to describe the feeling of pride when you hear of a colleague going out of their way to…
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Interview-based assessments are a critical element of an effective executive hiring process. They can be conducted very effectively in a virtual environment – and indeed, the current situation notwithstanding, many already are. That said, the COVID-19 pandemic creates added dynamics that are important to consider. While much has been written about the logistics and technical…
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Every industry across the globe has faced a crisis at some point in time. While most large companies survive, many struggle for years following a period of severe adversity. Others prevail and become stronger than before. How companies address crises has changed over time, as has the role of the board. Amid COVID-19’s rapid spread…
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5 Key Considerations for Candidate Engagement in Today’s Crisis [Russell Reynolds Associates]
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1 min read
Great candidate engagement has always mattered – it can be the difference between getting a great candidate and losing one. The COVID-19 crisis is throwing up a multitude of new challenges. How organizations deal with them will be hugely important to keeping hiring processes moving and maintaining strong talent pipelines for once the crisis has…
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7 Simple Tips and Reminders for Successful Video Interviewing [Russell Reynolds Associates]
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1 min read
For many good reasons organizations and candidates have a preference for meeting and interviewing in-person. As many organizations reduce travel and restrict visitors to their offices amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the temptation may be to reschedule those in-person meetings. We strongly advise that organizations focus instead on shifting to virtual interviews. This will ensure candidate…
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Pandemics are unlike any other challenge we face as leaders. There are no words to fully describe the feeling of dread when you find out one of your colleagues has fallen ill. There are also no words to describe the feeling of pride when you hear of a colleague going out of their way to…
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Reviewing financial statements, audit activities, and compliance activities are all part of the work required of board members to keep the company running on the right path. But the most successful boards do far more than this, focusing on more forward-looking, value-creating, strategic issues. Earlier this year, Russell Reynolds Associates surveyed 750 board directors about…
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Public company boards are under pressure from investors. This stems not just from the usual focus on performance, but increasingly from questions and concerns regarding the quality of the board itself. Board composition has become a focus both for institutional investors pushing for long-term thinking and for activist investors demanding short-term performance uplift. There are…
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What the Board Wants to Know: Answers to 12 Common Questions [Russell Reynolds Associates]
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2 min read
The Expectations of Public Company Directors Continue to Rise and the Work is Increasingly Challenging As the business world becomes more complex, organizations are becoming harder to lead and manage, with scrutiny from investors, regulators, shareholders, activists and the media on the rise. There are growing expectations that directors will more closely oversee areas that…
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“Are You Coachable?”: Lessons from a Trillion Dollar Coach [Russell Reynolds Associates]
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2 min read
For many leading Silicon Valley executives, Bill Campbell was a not-so-secret weapon—a trusted advisor who made them household names, even if his own name was virtually unknown outside the Valley. Campbell—who passed away at age 75 in 2016—was a successful college athlete turned professional football coach, first at Boston College, then at Columbia University. After…
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Going for Gold: Global Board Culture and Director Behaviors Survey [Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance]
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2 min read
Based on our experience working with hundreds of boards each year, we know board and director performance depends on the quality of board leadership, the ability of the board to focus on the right issues and a small number of critical director behaviors. Our latest research backs this up. The link between critical director behaviors…
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As 2018 comes to a close and 2019 begins, five senior leaders at Russell Reynolds Associates reflect on the global and regional leadership trends they see emerging or accelerating in the coming year. I had the pleasure of assisting Clarke Murphy, Constantine Alexandrakis, Patrick Johnson, Matthias Oberholzer, and Patrick L. O’Brien with this piece, which…
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Insight on Demand: The Opportunities and Challenges of Advisory Boards [Russell Reynolds Associates]
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2 min read
At some point, nearly every corporate board will face the same existential crisis: Should the board only include executives with high-level general management and strategy experience – or should it be filled with individuals who have deep expertise in key priority areas? This debate has been bubbling for more than a decade. What began with…
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CEO misconduct, be it personal misdeeds, illegal business practices, violations of ethical norms, or something else – seems to be in the news more often these days. And when a CEO misbehaves, the entire company suffers. The organizational consequences of CEO misconduct are significant. Researchers at Stanford University have shown that when a CEO is…
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Institutional investors (both active managers and index fund giants) spent the last few years raising their expectations of public company boards—a trend we expect to see continue in 2019. The demand for board quality, effectiveness, and accountability to shareholders will continue to accelerate across all global markets. Toward the end of each year, Russell Reynolds…
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CEO Transitions: Mitigating Risks and Accelerating Value Creation [Russell Reynolds Associates]
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2 min read
CEO transitions have always been challenging, but never more so than in today’s environment. As a board governance, leadership consulting and search firm, Russell Reynolds Associates is asked regularly to conduct CEO searches and support long-term CEO succession planning. We advise our clients not to forget about transition planning as a distinct process that needs…
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General Electric builds a lot of things — including leaders. Since GE’s 1892 founding in Schenectady, New York, almost every single GE CEO has spent all, or virtually all, of his career at the company. As the conglomerate has grown across continents and industries, it has repeatedly been able to develop leaders with diverse skills…
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In Search of Greatness: How to Choose an Independent Board Leader [Russell Reynolds Associates]
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1 min read
What makes a great board leader – and how do you know? When US boards look for a new non-executive leader – or a director candidate who could fill that role when the time comes – they often try to identify ideal candidates by looking at backgrounds and experiences. It is a worthwhile endeavor, as…
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GE signed two deals late last year to sell jet engines to China’s Juneyao Airlines and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). The sales are worth a combined $2.5 billion, and in announcing them, GE highlighted that “China will displace the United States as the world’s largest aviation market in 2022, two years faster…
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Future Perfect: What it Takes to Manage for the Long Term [Russell Reynolds Associates]
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3 min read
For years, U.S. public companies have faced pressure from Wall Street to meet or beat quarterly earnings estimates. In response, they have discontinued quarterly guidance, forgone major investments, and sometimes prettied up results with accounting tricks. These defense mechanisms succeed to varying degrees but reveal a concerning truth: Executives often allow the market to define…
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According to some dire and sensational headlines, many people will likely soon find themselves in the unemployment line, while a relative of a Roomba moves in to their office, taking over their job. Few topics have created so much fear, uncertainty and doubt in the workplace as recent developments in robotics and artificial intelligence. As…
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Specialists, Caretakers, and Chameleons: The C-Suite in 2021 [Russell Reynolds Associates]
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2 min read
It’s a challenging time for corporations. The first years of the twenty-first century have seen a period of rapid technological innovation, an explosion of entrepreneurial activity, and globalization on an unparalleled pace. Nations have experienced unexpected political upheavals. Markets have shifted and changed. So have the employees we lead. And executive teams have never looked…
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Uniquely Human: Talent Implications of Technological Disruption in the Workforce [Russell Reynolds Associates]
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1 min read
Few changes in the world have created more uncertainty in the workplace than the recent, seemingly sudden advancements in automation and artificial intelligence. The media headlines can be dire: Vikram Pandit, previously the head of Citigroup, has predicted that technology will eliminate up to 30 percent of banking jobs in the next five years. A…
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Artificial Intelligence: A Primer for Corporate Directors [Russell Reynolds Associates]
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1 min read
The term “artificial intelligence” has become part of common parlance – used casually in business publications and corner offices – but it often lacks definition. What does it really mean? Contrary to popular belief, it’s not synonymous with a takeover by an army of robots, nor does it equate to an endless dialogue with Siri…
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Leading a Legacy: How Outsiders Thrive as Family Business CEOs [Russell Reynolds Associates]
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2 min read
When Guy Laurence lost his job as CEO of Rogers Communications in October 2016, it quickly became the subject of newspaper headlines and evening news reports. Hired in December 2013 to run the family-owned Canadian business, Laurence was a successful, experienced executive. Previously the CEO of Vodafone UK, he came to Rogers with seemingly all…
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Jennifer Weber, chief human resources officer (CHRO) for Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has all the qualifications you might expect from a top-level HR executive – and then some. Before joining Lowe’s in 2016, Weber was executive vice president of external affairs and strategic policy for Duke Energy Corp.; a position she took after 20 years as…
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Career Crossroads: The Talent Migration from Finance to Tech [Russell Reynolds Associates and the Toigo Foundation]
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2 min read
By all accounts, the career paths of today’s professionals are dramatically different from the generations prior. Shorter tenures, an expectation of freedom and flexibility in work arrangements, a desire for tighter alignment between personal values and an employer’s mission are clear and defining differences of today’s workforce. But there’s more to the story around employment…
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When Leaders Are Hired for Talent but Fired for Not Fitting In [Harvard Business Review]
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2 min read
Over and over again, organizations are unable to appoint the right leaders. According to academic estimates, the baseline for effective corporate leadership is merely 30%, while in politics, approval ratings oscillate between 25% and 40%. In America, 75% of employees report that their direct line manager is the worst part of their job, and 65%…
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Over the last few decades, organizations have slowly transitioned from promoting employees based solely on technical ability to recognizing the critical importance of soft skills. No longer does the best accounting become the finance director; now it goes to a solid performer who can also manage stakeholders, develop employees, and communicate in an engaging manner.…
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What we want from our CEOs changes with every economic boom and bust. In the late ’90s it was the “vision thing.” After the tech bubble burst, it was a focus on growth at all costs. In the shadow of the global financial crisis, we wanted leaders who were comfortable with cost cutting and capital…
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Inside the Mind of the Asian CEO [HQAsia]
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1 min read
Why do some people become CEOs and others don’t? Why do some Chief Executive Officers thrive while others fail? What separates an outstanding leader from an average one? For several years, our teams at Russell Reynolds Associates and Hogan Assessments have sought to understand the differences between average and best-in-class leaders at all levels in…
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Directors & Boards was founded at a time when corporate governance was entering a period of significant transformation, publishing its first issue barely two years after the Model Business Corporations Act fundamentally redefined the role of the board. No longer was it true that “the business and affairs of a corporation shall be managed by…
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Creating Sustained Value: Finding and Supporting Long-Term CEOs [Russell Reynolds Associates]
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2 min read
When Jeff Bezos founded Amazon as an online bookstore in the mid-1990s, he did so with a clear vision for how he wanted to manage the enterprise. “We believe that a fundamental measure of our success will be the shareholder value we create over the long term,” he wrote to shareholders in 1997. “This value…
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New managers matter. They’re on the front lines with your workforce, your customers, your competitors, your markets. They have tremendous potential. And some of them will become your organization’s future executives. In tapping these employees for the managerial ranks, your organization is recognizing this. But while you’ll be relying on your new managers to take…
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As directors are increasingly aware, over the past several weeks, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken initial steps that could begin the process of moving U.S. companies away from reporting financial information in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP) and toward the use of IFRS. On August 27, 2008,…
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Companies around the world are being impacted by current economic and credit market conditions in ways they did not predict and for which they are largely unprepared. “We hear a lot of false stories about how we’re not affected because we’re Canadian,” one audit chair remarked, but members report the contrary. They are being challenged…