The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu The leading online blog in the fields of corporate governance and financial regulation. Tue, 11 Aug 2026 16:16:29 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.9 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/cropped-photography-4-e1706898544564-1-32x32.png Do CEOs Trust Their Boards? RRA’s Leadership Confidence Index Finds an Emerging Gap – The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu 32 32 Do CEOs Trust Their Boards? RRA’s Leadership Confidence Index Finds an Emerging Gap https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2026/08/10/do-ceos-trust-their-boards-rras-leadership-confidence-index-finds-an-emerging-gap/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=do-ceos-trust-their-boards-rras-leadership-confidence-index-finds-an-emerging-gap https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2026/08/10/do-ceos-trust-their-boards-rras-leadership-confidence-index-finds-an-emerging-gap/#respond Mon, 10 Aug 2026 11:32:04 +0000 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/?p=183028?d=20260807161736EDT Posted by Maggie Benkert, Amy Sampson, and Joy Tan, Russell Reynolds Associates, on Monday, August 10, 2026
Editor's Note:

Maggie Benkert is a member of the Board and CEO Advisory Partners in the Americas, Amy Sampson is a member of the Board Effectiveness practice, and Joy Tan is a member of the Center for Leadership Insight at Russell Reynolds Associates. This post is based on a Russell Reynolds memorandum by Ms. Benkert, Ms. Sampson, Ms. Tan, Ela Buczynska, and Gabrielle Lieberman, all at Russel Reynolds Associates.

In today’s unpredictable environment of economic volatility, AI disruption, and geopolitical instability, there’s another emerging threat to organizational health: a widening confidence gap between CEOs and their boards. Our latest Leadership Confidence Index (LCI) indicates that CEO’s confidence in their boards continued to decline at an average of 2.3 points per year since 2021.

Despite this drop, board members’ confidence in their own abilities remain relatively stable. While perhaps unsurprising, this highlights a deeper disconnect. As both the complexity and breadth of issues requiring oversight grows, boards have assumed an increasingly expansive mandate. Yet many have not held operating roles in this changed environment, nor engaged fully with the continuous education needed to meet evolving expectations. Meanwhile, CEOs are on the front lines of rapid disruption, and are understandably looking for even more strategic guidance and risk mitigation support from their boards.

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