What CEOs need from their Boards right now is a rare combination of presence, agility, and stability. Pressure on executive leadership has never been higher: urgent decisions, complex risks, significant human impact, shifting stakeholder expectations, and an external environment that changes by the hour. In this context, the Board’s role can be decisive, either accelerating or slowing down the organisation’s ability to respond.

The message that consistently comes from CEOs is straightforward: they need the Board to be truly available and informed, able to make crisp and timely decisions. Crisis management and the need for immediate responses are simply incompatible with slow governance models. That’s why many CEOs believe that, in critical moments, the Board should consider delegating decision-making authority to the Chair or to a specialised Committee, such as the Risk Committee, ensuring that urgent decisions do not get stuck in traditional processes.

Another essential point is the distinction between governance and operations. CEOs neither need nor want directors interfering directly in execution. What they value is the Board’s ability to ask elevating questions, bring strategic perspective, and maintain focus on protection of the organisation, ethics, risk, and long-term vision. When the Board enters the operational space, it creates noise, confusion, and duplicated effort. When it fulfils its role of strategic oversight, it becomes an essential ally to the CEO.

Here, the role of the Chair stands out. In an environment where decisions are fast and often lonely, the CEO needs a sounding board, someone with whom to think out loud, test ideas, challenge assumptions, and calibrate risks. A competent Chair knows when to question, when to support, and when to convey information to the full Board. This trusting and candid relationship becomes an anchor at a time when much of the organisational system is under strain.

CEOs also want the Board to act as an emotional stabiliser. In crisis, the psychological pressure on leadership is immense: ethical dilemmas, people decisions, reputational impact, financial sustainability, and care for customers and employees. A Board that remains calm, considered, and disciplined in its questions contributes directly to the quality of executive decision-making. When the Board adds anxiety, drama, or micromanagement, it destabilises the entire process. A CEO who feels the Board as a source of steadiness, rather than additional pressure — can think more clearly and act with greater precision.

Another often underestimated dimension: CEOs emphasise the importance of personal support, small gestures of recognition, short messages validating a path, demonstrations of trust. Comments like “you’re managing this well” or “good work” have disproportionate impact on leadership motivation and resilience. This kind of support costs neither time nor money, yet strengthens the CEO’s emotional capacity at a moment when the margin for error is minimal.

At the same time, CEOs deeply value the broad perspective directors can bring. A Board is not a mirror of management, it is a system that observes the organisation from the outside in. That is why sharing insights from other sectors, relevant contacts, previous crisis experience, and implications the executive team may not have considered is among the Board’s highest-value contributions. These external perspectives help the CEO see beyond immediate financial impact, particularly the risks to reputation, employee confidence, and the company’s future positioning.

Another clear need is respect for the CEO’s focus. Many leaders ask directors to avoid unnecessary calls, emails, and demands during critical phases. If information is truly important, the CEO will ask for it, otherwise, every interruption steals time, energy, and attention when all three are scarce. The Board adds more value when it is selective, non-intrusive, and conscious of the daily pressure the leadership team is under.

CEOs also want the Board to recognise that mistakes will inevitably happen. The pace of decisions, incomplete information, and constant adaptation make errors unavoidable. What matters, from the CEO’s perspective, is that the Board understands that preserving people, protecting jobs, and ensuring continuity take precedence over an obsessive search for the perfect solution. Perfection is impossible, integrity and responsibility are not.

Clear reporting is another frequent request. The CEO needs alignment with the Board on the frequency, type, and depth of information to be shared. Overloading the Board with reports during a critical phase not only consumes resources, it also prevents the executive team from focusing on what has the most impact.

What CEOs want is a blend of rigour and pragmatism: sufficient information for oversight, without turning the process into bureaucracy.

Finally, CEOs highlight human elements that matter just as much: humour, lightness, and gratitude. Leading in crisis is a deeply human act, and the Board’s ability to maintain balance, sensibility, and even a touch of good humour can help diffuse pressure in the tensest moments.

All of this converges into one central message: CEOs need Boards that trust them, give them space to decide, keep the broader view, and protect the organisation without suffocating operations. They need Chairs who both challenge and support, and directors who think systemically rather than reactively.

What is asked of Boards in the coming weeks is simple and demanding at once: ensure decision-making agility, reinforce governance discipline, protect the organisation’s calm, and serve as a source of confidence in a context where uncertainty is the only constant. This is where the Board can truly make the difference.