How Well Do You Know Your CEO and Fellow Board Members?
6:00 PM Cocktails, 7:00 PM Dinner and Discussion
Directors are responsible for monitoring the “tone at the top” and we all think we are good judges of
character. We trust that the CEO and our fellow board members will be honest and forthright, working for
the benefit of the shareholders, employees and other constituencies. We trust that others are all playing by
the same rules and moral codes. But what if they are not? What if the management team is duplicitous in
their reports and dealings with the Board? After all, betrayal is the shadow companion of trust. How can
we be alert to the signs of deception to ensure our trust is well placed? What questions and concerns can
we raise, both before accepting a top position and during a top leadership transition, to highlight potential
landmines?
Elaine Eisenman, Co-Chair of Women Corporate Directors Boston, has just written a book with Susan
Stautberg, founder of Women Corporate Directors, entitled Betrayed: A Survivors Guide to Lying,
Cheating and Double-Dealing. The book is based on interviews with over 50 people who lived through
the depths of treachery in business, marriage, families, and friendship. Elaine will discuss two cases of
betrayal at the top - one of the CEO by her Board and the other of the Board by its CEO - to discuss the
dangers of blind trust, the value of heeding red flags, and the importance of considering worst case
scenarios when actions appear to be out of pattern and expectation. Elaine will provide lessons from their
interviews on how to see the red flags, how best to retain one’s power and control, the nature of
reputational risk, and ways to move forward to preserve one’s self-esteem. During the dinner
conversations there will be time for participants to share their own experiences of betrayal, how they
might have misjudged the situation, and what they learned in the process.
Elaine Eisenman, PhD, is the Managing Director of Saeje Advisors, and is a founding member, on the
national Advisory Board, and Boston Chapter Co-Chair of Women Corporate Directors. She has served
on public and private boards since 1997, and is currently on the boards of Designer Brands, Inc, (NYSE)
and two private companies, Atmos and Miravan. Most recently, Elaine served as Dean of Executive and
Enterprise Education at Babson College, and Professor of Entrepreneurial Leadership. She has developed
and taught in a wide range of programs for entrepreneurs and corporate executives, and is currently a
member of the faculty team for Entrepreneurship Policy Advisors building entrepreneurial ecosystems in
throughout Latin and North America. Prior to her role at Babson, Elaine’s career included experience as a
business leader and general manager, HR executive, and organizational consultant. She has held senior
executive positions at both public companies such as American Express, Enhance Financial Services Co.,
and The Children’s Place, and private companies such as PDI International, a global consulting firm,
where she both built and was general manager of the Northeast region, and Management & Capital
Partners, a retained executive recruitment, management consulting, and venture capital firm, where she
was Chairman. Elaine earned a PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from New York University,
and an MS from Columbia University.