ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a perspective on the special nature of consulting to Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and boards. The key to consulting to CEOs – regardless of the kind of company they lead – is to understand the world in which they operate. In reality, the CEO sits at the center of a universe of stakeholders, both internal and external, who constantly try to impose difficult and often conflicting agendas. Each set of stakeholders has its own expectations, interests and standards for judging the CEO's performance. The role of corporate boards – and the job of consultants who work with them – has changed much more dramatically in recent years than that of CEOs and their consultants. The one aspect of the CEO's job that makes it so unique is that he or she is the only individual in the entire organization who is in direct contact with – and personally held accountable by – the full universe of stakeholders.
