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 AI Risks Are Becoming Clear. Can Your Board See How They Reach the Company?

AI risk may already be on your board’s agenda. But can directors see where it is actually entering the business—through vendor software, employee use, consequential decisions, or even the analysis reaching the board itself? This article uses an illustrative BoardPulse assessment to show how an adequate overall result can conceal a load-bearing weakness, where CEOs and directors may be working from different pictures, and how the findings can be translated into practical next steps before adoption outpaces oversight.

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

Beyond CEO Alpha When does Leadership Performance Become Organizational Capability?

McKinsey’s research makes a compelling case that CEO performance is a significant driver of private equity returns, a value it calls “CEO alpha.” But strong CEO performance raises a second question for PE partners and portfolio company leaders: is the CEO building capabilities the company itself owns, or do results still disproportionately depend on that leader’s judgment, attention, and intervention? Beyond CEO Alpha explores the difference between value created by an exceptional leader and organizational capability that can endure through accelerated growth, an add-on acquisition, a leadership transition, or exit.

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

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