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Program Experience
Highlights and Key Outcomes
In Boards That Lead, you will:
- Understand how the role of a board of directors has changed in today’s increasingly regulated business environment
- Gain an insider’s view of some of the world’s most dynamic boardrooms from the executives who lead them
- Acquire the proven road map for designing and leading an effective board
- Uncover the best methods to recruit and select the most qualified directors
- Collaborate more effectively as a board director, chairperson, or chief executive
Experience & Impact
Based on the book Boards That Lead: When to Take Charge, When to Partner, and When to Stay Out of the Way, this program provides the latest thinking from some of the world’s most knowledgeable boardroom veterans on how directors can best make a leadership difference.
It will examine the changing role of boards with some of the world’s most preeminent thought leaders on the subject. Participants who currently serve on a board will learn how to improve their leadership and decision-making effectiveness. Aspiring board members and those whose roles involve extensive contact with directors will get fresh insights on how to partner with boards and build boards that add new value to the company.
Classroom sessions will be led by faculty and distinguished practitioners who are trusted advisors to some of the world’s most successful CEOs and companies such as GE, Bank of America, DuPont, Novartis, EMC, Home Depot, and Verizon. In addition, Boards That Lead will give participants an insider’s view of some of today’s most notable executive offices and boardrooms.
In sum, this program provides board directors and chief executives with insights and proven strategies to build and lead boards more effectively.
Session topics include:
- The New Role of the Board
- CEO and Director Selection
- Designing Effective Boards
- How to Succeed in the Boardroom
- Board Principles
Through practitioner-led lectures and first-rate networking with other boardroom leaders, participants will discover their own pathway for leadership success.
Specifically, you will learn:
- What a company should look for when recruiting new directors
- How a board can effectively engage and motivate corporate management
- How a board determines suitability when hiring a new CEO
- How an institutional investor or private equity or hedge fund should evaluate a board before investing in a company
Listen to the Knowledge@Wharton Podcast
Academic Director Michael Useem talks about why C-suite leaders should “go long” in their business outlook and focus on long-term growth.
This program qualifies for 9 hours of recertification credits for directors maintaining their NACD Directorship Certification®.
Due to our application review period, applications submitted after 12:00 p.m. ET on Friday for programs beginning the following Monday may not be processed in time to grant admission. Applicants will be contacted by a member of our Client Relations Team to discuss options for future programs and dates.
Past Guest Speakers
Paula A. Price
Public and Private Company Independent Board Director & Strategic Advisor; Former EVP and Chief Financial Officer of Macy’s Inc.
Paula A. Price was EVP and Chief Financial Officer of Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) from July 2018 to May 2020, and served as Advisor to the renowned retailer until the end of 2020. As CFO, she was also a principal architect of Macy’s transformation journey and, during the COVID 19 pandemic, led its financial restructuring including raising $4.5 billion to recapitalize and sustain the company.
Price has been a Visiting Executive with Harvard Business School since July 2018, and was a full-time Senior Lecturer of Business Administration in the Accounting and Management Unit, having joined the faculty in July, 2014. Until January, 2014, Price was Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of Ahold USA which she joined in 2009. At Ahold, Price was responsible for Finance, Accounting and Shared Services; Strategy and Planning; Real Estate Development and Construction; and Information Technology. Price transformed the Finance function; delivered a $1 billion cost savings program to fund strategic growth initiatives; and led a team of over 1,000.
Prior to joining Ahold, Price was Senior Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer for CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS), and a key player in the $26 billion CVS/Caremark merger transaction. Price began her career as an intern in public accounting at Arthur Andersen & Co. before joining full-time with clients that spanned financial services, consumer packaged goods, and healthcare.
Price currently serves as an independent director for public, private and not-for profit companies. Today, she serves on the boards of the following publicly traded companies: Accenture (NYSE: ACN) chairing its Audit Committee, Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMS), Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC); and Davita (NYSE: DVA) chairing its Audit Committee. She is a qualified audit committee financial expert as defined by the SEC, and a certified public accountant.
Price’s career includes senior-level finance, general management, and strategy roles based in New York, Boston, London and Chicago in the retail, financial services, healthcare, and consumer packaged goods industries.
Price earned her MBA in Finance and Strategy from the University of Chicago; and her BSc in Accountancy from DePaul University.
Price and her family live in Manhattan and on Martha’s Vineyard, where she enjoys painting and outdoor activities.
William McNabb
Former CEO and Executive Chairman, Vanguard; Senior Fellow at Wharton
F. William McNabb III is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Vanguard. He joined Vanguard in 1986. In 2008, he became chief executive officer; in 2010, he became chairman of the board of directors and the board of trustees. He stepped down as chief executive officer at the end of 2017 and as chairman at the end of 2018. Earlier in his career, he led each of Vanguard’s client-facing business divisions.
Mr. McNabb is active in the investment management industry and served as the chairman of the Investment Company Institute’s board of governors from 2013 to 2016. A board member of UnitedHealth Group, IBM, Axiom, Tilney Smith & Williamson, and Altruist, he is also chairperson of Ernst & Young’s Independent Audit Committee and vice chair of the board of Nexii.
He is a board member and vice chair of CECP: The CEO Force for Good and co-chair of its Strategic Investor Initiative, a board member of the Philadelphia School Partnership, and the chairman of the board of the Zoological Society of Philadelphia.
In addition, Mr. McNabb is the executive in residence at the Raj & Kamla Gupta Governance Institute at the LeBow College of Business and a member of the Advisory Board of the Ira M. Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership at Columbia Law School. He is a senior fellow of the Wharton Center for Leadership and Change Management. He also serves on the Dartmouth Athletic Advisory Board.
Mr. McNabb earned an AB at Dartmouth College and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Who Should Attend
Boards That Lead: Corporate Governance that Builds Value is designed for current and prospective directors, corporate secretaries, general counsels of a corporation, institutional investors or executives who work for hedge funds or private equity funds, and securities regulators and equity analysts. It is also beneficial for senior-level executives who want to gain an understanding of how directors move beyond monitoring and help lead a publicly traded company.
Participants leave the program with a richer peer network, enhanced understanding of corporate governance, and proven strategic principles that they can apply to enhance their own boards.
Fluency in English, written and spoken, is required for participation in Wharton Executive Education programs unless otherwise indicated.
Participant Profile
Participants by Industry
Participants by Job Function
Participants by Region
Plan Your Stay
This program is held at the Steinberg Conference Center located on the University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia. Meals and accommodations are included in the program fees. Learn more about planning your stay at Wharton’s Philadelphia campus.
Faculty
Michael Useem, PhDSee Faculty Bio
Academic Director
William and Jacalyn Egan Professor Emeritus of Management; Faculty Director, Center for Leadership and McNulty Leadership Program, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Research Interests: Catastrophic and enterprise risk management, corporate change and restructuring, leadership, decision making, governance
Vice Chairman, Korn Ferry International
World-renowned business advisor, author, and speaker
Emilie Feldman, PhDSee Faculty Bio
Michael L. Tarnopol Professor; Professor of Management, The Wharton School
Research Interests: Corporate governance, corporate strategy, diversification, divestitures, firm scope, spinoffs, mergers and acquisitions
Harbir Singh, PhDSee Faculty Bio
Mack Professor; Professor of Management; Co-Director, Mack Institute for Innovation Management; Wharton School Faculty Director for the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business, The Wharton School
Research Interests: Corporate governance, corporate restructuring, management buyouts, strategies for corporate acquisitions
Testimonials
Wharton’s Boards That Lead program helped me understand more deeply how to navigate the governance issues board leaders are facing today. Wharton’s instructors were top notch, and the people they brought in to speak with us were experienced executives who were able to engage us with tried strategies. As the CEO of a consulting firm, I found the program particularly useful both to my firm and personally. Most of our clients are large public companies, and we help them identify their current and emerging governance issues. The course was useful to me personally as I serve on two boards.
As we worked through the exercises, I came to understand that the issues I struggle with are the same ones that challenge directors who have served on boards for years. To be an effective board member, you really need to vet your conscience and speak up, even if your idea is contrary to the prevailing sentiment within the group. Board members must also be cognizant of conflicts of interest that exist among board members, and also within themselves.
I’ve already applied insights from the program in a recent board meeting I attended, during which we discussed candidates to fill two board positions. We discussed how board members not only must have the right skill sets and areas of expertise; it’s important to understand what kind of board culture you want to cultivate. We came to a pool of prospective candidates who we believed would actively serve and be there for the advancement of the organization rather then merely their own self-interest. Wharton’s program underscored how important it is for board members to have an open and collaborative relationship with each other in order for the board as a whole to be an effective leader."
Kathee Rebernak CEO, Framework LLC, a management consultancy
Wharton’s Boards That Lead takes corporate governance to an entirely new level with a new leadership framework — so we know when to lead, when to partner, and when to just get out of the way. This approach is cutting edge, as was the thought leadership that emerged during our peer-to-peer discussions. An energizing experience — and a ‘must attend’ for all board members."
Mary Kay Scucci, PhD, CPA Managing Director, SIFMA
Boards That Lead provides the essential road map for corporate leadership. With gripping accounts and compelling illustrations, Charan, Carey, and Useem show how directors can lead in strategic partnership with company executives. This is a game changer, required reading for all who seek to bring out the best in their boards."
Alan Mulally CEO and President, Ford Motor Company
This book shows how, through leading, partnering, and delegating, boards are now starting to shape the architecture of the company in unprecedented ways. This book is rich with stories — there is nothing like learning from three world-leading practitioners on advancing board capabilities to get the company to raise its game."
Fred Hassan Managing Director (Health care), Warburg Pincus; Chairman and Director, Bausch + Lomb; Former Chairman and CEO, Schering-Plough; Former Lead Director, Avon Products; Director, Time Warner
Boards That Lead offers an illuminating road map for how a board of directors can effectively engage and motivate its corporate management team to successfully navigate even the most complex of situations. This book should be on the ‘must-read’ list of every corporate board member and senior executive."
Roger W. Ferguson, Jr. President and CEO, TIAA-CREF
This research, complete with compelling anecdotes and practical information, brilliantly explores how creative, flexible, and innovative processes provide the foundation for long-term, sustainable partnerships between the board and the companies they serve. This work captures the true innovation intended to guide the leadership mandate for any board."
Ivan G. Seidenberg Former Chairman and CEO, Verizon Communications; Former Chairman, Business Roundtable
Boards That Lead is chock full of real-world examples that directors can use to improve their leadership and decision making — an impressive one-stop shop outlining board member roles, responsibilities, and actions, including the boundaries that boards and companies often fail to recognize. The checklists for putting this advice into action are comprehensive and practical — the best I have seen."
Maggie Wilderotter Chairman and CEO, Frontier Communications; Director, Procter & Gamble and Xerox Corporation
Boards That Lead by Ram Charan, Dennis Carey, and Michael Useem This book has been called “a must for anyone who sits on a major corporate board — or who wants to understand them.”
— Wall Street Journal.Visit Amazon to purchase the book