The CEO-Board Relationship Is a Strategic Asset, Not a Reporting Line

The author argues many boards mistake a reporting cadence for a strong CEO relationship, but meetings and formal papers deliver governance process without necessarily delivering governance effectiveness. The real test is whether the relationship improves judgment, surfaces truth early, and supports better decisions under pressure, with trust built through candor, role clarity, and follow-through and weakened by surprises and performative challenge. This reframes CEO-Chair alignment as a value-creating asset that SEA founders and boards must actively manage.