Alan Murray speaks to the changing relationships between boards and the CEO in The Wall Street Journal excerpt [05/05/07] of his new book, Revolt in The Boardroom. The implications for strategic leadership are extensive and interesting.

The evolution of power in the office of the CEO has been in gear for several decades. Relationships between board governance and CEO behavior have been reset in the context of what we call the four natural goals of business. These include competitive advantage, financial performance, customer connections and corporate stewardship. These are defined in detail in Prepared and Resolved.

The current era of renewed transparency and focus on broader stakeholder concerns is a response to board and CEO behaviors that have often missed the mark on natural goals. Most of the Enron–era stories of disruptive behavior demonstrate the obvious disconnects between boards, executives and stakeholders on matters tied to these four natural goals.

Boardroom Strategy Discussion
The evolution of strategy, as reviewed by the board and the CEO cannot be settled into the emphasis of execution alone. There are three elements in the strategic agenda, and the board and CEO need to get on the same page here.

Strategy direction deals with focus and options. As Murray notes, strategy has to be meaningful to people across the organization.

Strategy integration deals with resources factors. The challenges of strategy integration often extend beyond the boundaries of the company.

Strategy execution deals with action plans and impact. The disciplines of strategy execution are broader than tactics alone, however.

Boards wake up to big surprises when the corporations they serve are blithe about the nature and dynamics of the strategic agenda. The culture of effective governance today and tomorrow is based on a serious focus on business results. The boardroom is a setting for strategic leadership and management, and that entails a remix of compliance and development roles for the board and the CEO. Does this help redefine the job of the contemporary CEO? The answer is yes. Does it address the meaning of leadership in the boardroom? Yes, and that sets the broader game for strategy and corporate culture.

We address the strategic roles of boards, executives, managers and front line employees in Chapter 09 of Prepared and Resolved. The emerging roles of board strategy and leadership are essential to the equation for business growth, performance and change.