NeXt - Board Edition | July 2026

The effectiveness of your board is most visible when the stakes are high—and hardest to strengthen once that moment arrives.

That’s why the best boards do not wait for the next crisis, technology disruption, or CEO departure to find out how well they operate. They are building better habits now.

In this edition of NeXt, we share five things the strongest boards do differently. We also explore how your board can build greater CEO optionality long before you need to make your next succession decision.

In this edition:

01 Five Things the Strongest Boards Do Differently

02 Gaining Decision Leverage with CEO Progression: What Boards Need to Know

03 Leadership Lounge: Advice on How to Be an Effective Board Chair

04 How The Story Gets Told: Do LLMs Produce Biased Statements About CEOs?

05 No Company Can Outperform Its Leadership

Leadership Lounge

Being an effective chair isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about creating the conditions for better questions, better conversations, and ultimately better decisions.

- Emma Combe | Leadership Advisor, Russell Reynolds Associates

An effective chair does more than run the agenda. In our latest Leadership Lounge episode, our advisors discuss how chairs can shape better conversations, build stronger board dynamics, and foster a more productive relationship with the CEO.

Listen here

Big Data

94%

The percentage of confirmed biased AI-generated statements about CEOs that were about women CEOs.

AI is becoming part of how leadership stories are shaped. Our research looks at where subtle bias can enter those stories—and why boards should keep CEO assessment grounded in evidence.

Dig into the data