Boards

"Most directors would agree that selecting and advising the CEO is the Board's most important role… bewildering that boards aren't more rigorous…just so glad that we called Soder. Saved us so much grief — and so many millions."

"If you've had to fire a CEO, you are much more careful the second time around. You get smart and you call the CEO Group."

Boards have sought CEO Perspective Group's sophisticated assessment for assistance in evaluating aspiring, potential and current chief executives for decades. The CEO Assessment has been successfully employed in the most sensitive, critical situations — the Assessment process does not rely on information from others, rather the process is designed to elicit information from the individual. Difficult-to-measure traits including initiative, vision, loyalty, learning ability, stress management and others can be reliably quantified due to Soder's psychometric experience and expertise. CEO Perspective Group's long history of work with boards attests to the confidentiality of our CEO assessment — we go the extra lengths required for this important work.

The CEO Assessment has helped boards of all types (including multi-national, non-profit, family-owned and asset management companies) make CEO evaluation, selection and termination decisions confidentially and rapidly. A two-year study of CEO turnover produced the Group's Early Warning Signs©, which received considerable praise for its predictive ability of chief executive difficulties, months before Board attention and action. Clarke's article "How to Avoid Firing Your CEO" in Directors and Boards was republished as a feature article and his advice noted in 2006 in "30 One-liners: Wisdom of the Ages." The theme of this and a companion article by Soder "Ready, Fire, Aim" is that a board's timely actions, including assessment and evaluation, can prevent problems and disruptive management changes. As a unique service offering, the partners will work behind the scenes to shore up CEO skills or determine need for a successor. "There were more and more problems we were noticing, but several directors said to be patient that (the CEO) had come through before… CEO Perspective Group assessment revealed major issues with the CEO and the CFO. We got the CFO replaced, but a new product launch made a change at top problematic. Soder suggested a strategy which bought us time to conduct a confidential search…it's been 5 years and even some directors don't know the extent of the problems." Lead director, global nonprofit

"Thank you for your efforts at (company) to evaluate our CEO candidates. Your assessment was very insightful and based on your input, we offered support activities for our chosen candidate to address the issues you raised. I appreciate your efforts." Chair, Consumer products company

Soder's study and article on how boards assess and evaluate CEOs a year after Enron, Tyco and other corporate scandals has led to significant reforms within boardrooms (CEO Selection and Evaluation Today: What Directors Say, National Association of Corporate Directors.) Recent economic challenges, increased competition, government and shareholders scrutiny has led to refined assessments to better evaluate potential and current top executives' ability to lead today. Always at the forefront of Best Practices, our firm's expertise is often sought by CEOs and Directors wishing to improve their Boards and for guidance on the most sensitive ethical concerns.

Expertise frequently noted in articles and speeches: Wall Street Journal, Directors & Boards, National Association of Corporate Directors, Conference Board, Corporate Board, Chief Executive Magazine, Business Week, Directors Alert, and others.

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