The CEO's Boss

Everybody needs a superior, even the company CEO, and governing boards have increasingly answered the call. In doing so, they have added plenty tough love to the executive suite, as William Klepper has so well chronicled in The CEO's Boss, with rich accounts of the partnerships, sometimes flawed, between bosses and boards from BP and Lehman to Hewlett-Packard and Wells Fargo. -- Michael Useem, professor of management, Wharton School, and coauthor of <i>Boards That Lead</i> Too many researchers forget that we have as muchor moreto learn from failure as we do from success. By examining transitions that have worked and ones that haven't, William M. Klepper has given us new perspective on how boards can work with CEOs while still holding them accountable. This work is a much-needed addition to the canon of board-level best practices. -- Michael E. Raynor, author of <i>The Strategy Paradox</i> and coauthor of <i>The Innovator's Solution</i> The CEO's Boss is a must-read for anyone who looks to be taking the highest position in a company. * Midwest Book Review * The CEO's Boss serves up a wealth of practical, hands-on recommendations to build a productive partnership and a plan of action for a variety of businesses and settings.... For anyone who wants to take board evaluation, leadership structure, and dynamics to the next level, The CEO's Boss is inspired reading and will provide impetus for discussion. * Corporate Board Member * This sharply focused book fills a very important gap in boardrooms and the literature on corporate governance. William M. Klepper is a highly skilled researcher. -- Ram Charan, business consultant and author of <i>The High-Potential Leader: How to Grow Fast, Take on New Responsibilities, and Make an Impact</i> [Klepper] provides unique perspective and insight into the ways in which today's companies are adapting to the ethical and legal challenges to their traditional roles. . . Recommended. * Choice *

William M. Klepper is a management professor at Columbia Business School. His scholarship and teaching focus on executive leadership and corporate governance. He has worked with a number of major corporations in custom programs and has served as vice president of the College of New Jersey, president of his school board, president of his county legislature, and mayor of his township.

Acknowledgments Preface 1. The Social Contract 2. Tough Love in the Boardroom 3. Why the Right Partnership Matters 4. Leadership Metrics 5. How the Partnership Can Go Wrong: Take-Two Interactive 6. What Directors Need to Know Before Committing to a CEO 7. The Boards Commitment to the CEO 8. Effective Board Dynamics: How Directors Interact as a Team Epilogue Is Prologue Appendix A: Outstanding Directors Appendix B: Interview with Glenn Hubbard Notes Index