Why the CEO Shouldn’t Also Be the Board Chair

(Originally published in Harvard Business Review in 2020; co-authored with William Devine)

Recent debacles at Boeing, WeWork, and Facebook illustrate why organizations should be wary of giving the CEO job and the board chair job to one person. These cases also confirm what the authors have learned from interviews with accomplished tech industry CEOs, board chairs, investors and founders: As a leadership practice, the Two Job — One Person model can deny the organization talent at the top and lead to blind spots that undermine the organization’s ability to manage risks.

Beneath all the reporting on fatally flawed airplane design, serial ten-figure operating losses from big name startups, and Russian-linked presidential election information hackings, there lies an organizational leadership truth from the debacles at Boeing, WeWork, and Facebook: Be wary of giving the CEO job and the board chair job to one person.

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Originally published at https://hbr.org on March 4, 2020.