CEOs know that execution and organizational alignment matter. Yet the latest CEO Confidence Index shows growth, profitability and efficiency commanding attention while talent, organizational capability and resilience rank much lower. That tension does not prove leaders have overlooked the enablers of growth. It reveals something more consequential: a CEO confidence survey cannot determine whether confidence at the top is shared by the people expected to deliver the plan. This article examines that evidence gap—and the question boards should ask before growth and AI ambitions outrun the organization beneath them.

The CEO Can Champion the Next Business. Can the Organization Build It?

A CEO can champion a promising new business, but sponsorship alone does not make venture building an organizational capability. McKinsey’s latest research identifies the leadership, capital, culture, and governance new ventures require. This article takes the question one step further: can those conditions survive competing priorities, financial pressure, or a change in leadership? For executives and CVC leaders, the answer may determine whether a venture scales or remains dependent on whoever is protecting it.

Governance and Boards, Organizational ReadinessLouAnn ConnerAugust 12, 2026scaling companies, Corporate GovernanceComment

The Execution Gap Isn’t Where Leaders Think It Is

Most CEOs are confident in their strategy—yet fewer than half believe their organizations can adapt and execute at the speed required. When targets slip, the problem may not be the strategy or the people. Critical decisions may still depend on the CEO, priorities may weaken as they move through the organization, and structures that once supported growth may now be slowing it. My latest article explores what the research confirms—and the organization-specific question CEOs and boards still need to answer: What is really getting in the way of execution?

LouAnn ConnerJuly 30, 2026organizational intelligence, scaling companies, Strategy & ExecutionComment

The Blind Spot in the Most Studied CEO Succession Process Ever Conducted

Governance and BoardsLouAnn ConnerJuly 4, 2026scaling companies, Board & Board Efectiveness, Corporate GovernanceComment

Governance as Performance Architecture

Most companies do not realize they have a governance problem until growth starts creating friction.

Decisions slow down.
Coordination weakens.
Risks surface too late.
Leadership becomes the bottleneck.

At a certain point, every organization reaches a complexity threshold where informal leadership systems stop scaling effectively.

The companies that navigate this successfully understand something important:

Governance is not bureaucracy layered onto performance.

It is part of the architecture that makes performance possible.

In this article, I explore:
• why governance failures are often actually execution failures,
• how structural friction quietly undermines scaling companies,
• why governance maturity increasingly shapes operational performance,
• and how organizations can build governance into the architecture of execution itself.

Including:

a real-world scaling case study,
leadership and board discussion questions,
and practical insights for organizations navigating increasing complexity.

Insights