How New CEOs Can Build a Strong Alliance with Their Board Chair

Harvard Business Review (Aug 25, 2025) by Michael D. Watkins identifies the new-CEO/board-chair relationship as one of the most critical a CEO must navigate early in tenure, and lays out eight moves to build that alliance: establish shared values and cultural norms early, deepen agreement on strategic direction, clearly define roles and responsibilities, and understand each other's leadership styles and motivators, among others. For SEA mid-market boards inheriting a new CEO into a long-tenured chair seat, the framework gives both parties a structured starting agenda for the first 90 days.