Talent, Strategy, Risk

CHAPTER 1

Talent Rules

Of all the factors that go into the creation of long-term value, talent is the most important one for boards to be talking about. More than any financial goal or stratagem, talent—people—determines a company’s success or failure. People create and execute strategy and manage the associated risk. They conceive new business opportunities. They allocate resources. They are accountable for sustaining competitive advantage. Indeed, companies don’t compete. Talent does.

The priority for talent starts with the CEO, the person of final accountability. So the appointment of the CEO, and oversight of the CEO’s tenure, is the board’s ...