Board and CEO Services

For over 50 years we have guided world-class organizations, large and small, both public and private, through critical leadership decisions from board and CEO selection to evaluation, transition and succession. We understand the changing nature of governance, including the expectations and implications that will affect boardrooms of today and certainly tomorrow.

In addition to our strategic market expertise, we draw upon proprietary data and insights—including the world’s largest normative CEO database—to build a picture of the leaders you need now and in the future. Our boardroom advisors offer you access to the world’s most extensive network of board -ready talent across all sectors and functions. We work to build diverse and complementary boards, optimizing the expertise and voices of all directors to create a cohesive, high performing team.

The result? A high performing senior team and a leadership pipeline that ensures your board and CEO are future focused and ready for whatever lies ahead.

Here are some of the reasons you should consider Korn Ferry for Board and CEO Services:

• We understand the dynamics of Boards and the governance issues that need to be addressed: Boardrooms around the globe are evolving faster than ever before as the competitive landscape continues to create meaningful disruptions and opportunities. Composition is reshaping at record levels, there is increased regulatory oversight, ESG initiatives are growing, activism is accelerating, stakeholders are becoming more vocal and there is a demand for greater accountability for Boards. We understand not only the forces of change, but how modern board leadership is evolving and why it matters now more than ever before.
• We know what it takes to be a successful leader today: Grounded in deep science and abundant, practical experience, Korn Ferry has developed a rich, holistic profile of what it takes to be a successful leader for the future. We use the basis of this framework for all of our CEO Succession planning be the need immediate or for the future. Find out more about the Enterprise Leader Framework.
• We define what great leadership looks like for your organization: We start our search and succession process by developing a Success Profile that links the business and future strategic priorities of the company directly to the specific capabilities and attributes needed for success in C suite and also Board roles. This Success Profile integrates insights on the organization’s culture, ecosystem and transformation agenda, the external market landscape and Korn Ferry’s proprietary data/research on what makes a successful leader for your specific business context.
• We accelerate CEO development through our world-class programs: Becoming the CEO is not a job change, it’s a career change. Our immersive, engaging, collaborative and business relevant development programs enable leaders to successfully make the leap. Our Chief Executive Institute is a one-of-a-kind development program that uniquely equips a leader for a CEO role. And our Enterprise Leader Institute (acknowledged by Fast Company as the “Mayo Clinic” of leadership development) provides emerging and existing C-suite and senior executives with transformative development experiences that empower them to solve today’s greatest business challenges and execute tomorrow’s strategies.
• We help CEOs make impact faster: We work with CEOs at critical points in their careers to build a legacy of leadership in real time. Our CEO Impact Accelerator helps them to define their personal brand, strengthen relationships with stakeholders, and evolve organizations by building customized action plans that lead to differentiated outcomes and sustainable success.
• We know what it takes for a board to succeed: Our focus is on building strategic boards that are critical partners with management, helping to anticipate and shape the future, while continuing to monitor, manage and maintain performance. We do that by creating alignment between the 4Ps of board effectiveness: their purpose, their composition (people), their approach to partnership and their process and structure supported by strong board leadership.
• We are committed to boardroom diversity: We have already placed extraordinary, diverse talent into leadership roles, and it is our continuing mission to unleash the power of ALL - building diverse, equitable and inclusive organizations, starting at the top. Our research has given us unrivaled access to underrepresented CEO and board director candidates. And our Success Profiles help you objectively assess all candidates without bias.

A diverse and complementary board is a powerful asset. Building such a high-performing team requires a strategic approach to board member recruitment. These are the steps we take when working with organizations to build a strategic board:

• Build a picture of your future board: The experiences and capabilities you need around the boardroom table will depend on the strategic priorities of the business and the market landscape. We translate the language of business into the language of leadership.
• Identify the gaps between the skillset you have and the skillset you need: We perform an analysis of the backgrounds and experiences of your current board members to build a picture of the board’s current skillset. This process allows us to compare current expertise with desired expertise, identify gaps and design a forward-looking plan for board recruitment and development.
• Build individual success profiles: We build ideal profiles of future board directors to fill competency gaps, taking a holistic approach. We don’t just identify the required experiences and capabilities of a future director but also their characteristics, motivations and leadership skills which are proven to impact performance outcomes.
• Find the leaders you need: We tap into our extensive network of board talent to identify and assess potential candidates. Then we work with you to identify the right person to complement your existing team and provide support in onboarding them into the role.

Our work isn’t done once we have found the right CEO for your organization. We also provide coaching and support to the successor alongside the outgoing CEO to make the transition as smooth as possible. And, through our CEO Impact Accelerator, we work with the new CEO to help them achieve personal, enterprise and societal impact faster.

We provide the new CEO with a team of Korn Ferry experts who guide them through to successfully navigate their new role and balance their perform and transform agenda. This includes:

• Defining their personal brand and the legacy they want to leave behind.
• Strengthening relationships with stakeholders inside and outside of the organization.
• Building customized action plans that lead to differentiated outcomes and sustainable success.