In our continuing series, Corporate Governance Expert David Beatty describes the interconnectedness of the CEO and the corporate governance expert when working on a CEO’s agenda.

How Do I Get My Concerns Addressed?

David Beatty: I can’t answer because the CEO and I work like that, so what was his idea might have been migrated to half of my idea and back to his idea.

Interviewer: We’re synchronized-

David Beatty: No, I think there was a complete unanimity, in the last major board I chaired between the CEO and myself, on how the board ought to invest its time. And an openness and a transparency that meant there wasn’t my agenda and his agenda. There was our agreed upon agenda.

David Beatty is an adjunct professor and Conway chair of the Clarkson Centre for Business Ethics and Board Effectiveness at the Rotman School of Management. Over his career, he has served on more than 39 boards of directors and been chair of nine publicly traded companies. He was the founding managing director of the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance (2003 to 2008). A version of this article will also appear in the Winter 2017 edition of Rotman Management, published by the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.