Business Transformation Requires Transformational Leaders

Filip Lestan and Ruy de Quadros Carvalho analyze 249 Brazilian firms to assess how board structure influences innovation governance. They found that forming innovation-related committees is far more impactful than vision statements or rhetoric, enabling boards to ask better questions and oversee complex initiatives. Larger boards are more likely to form such committees, while CEO duality and director busyness significantly reduce the likelihood. The article concludes with four actionable steps to strengthen innovation governance through board design.

David F. Larcker, Amit Seru, Brian Tayan, and Laurie Yoler explore how AI could reshape boardrooms by enhancing the volume, quality, and timeliness of information available to directors. AI can reduce information asymmetry, support predictive analysis, and enable real-time scenario planning. These tools help boards become more proactive and better prepared for meetings. However, the authors caution that greater access to information may blur the line between governance and operations, requiring executives to manage directors’ deeper involvement carefully.

This issue of Amplify invites a reexamination of what makes boards truly effective. It features a collection of articles that explore how boards can evolve beyond conventional roles to become active stewards of long-term value — drawing on leader character, data and analytics, behavioral insight, structural design, and strategic engagement.

Alessia Falsarone examines the evolving role of lead independent directors (LIDs), offering a five-part framework to assess when and how to appoint them. Although LIDs can strengthen board independence and communication, their function varies by context. In firms where the CEO also chairs the board, LIDs often serve as a bridge to management and stakeholders. In other cases, they foster open dialogue on issues like ESG and AI ethics. Falsarone illustrates this with examples, including Coca-Cola’s LID leading efforts in transparency and sustainability amid activist pressure.

As organizations pursue purpose-driven goals, true leadership requires more than bold statements — it demands rigorous measurement of real-world impact. This means shifting from tracking inputs to evaluating tangible outcomes, acknowledging unintended consequences, and staying adaptable in the face of uncertainty. As this Advisor explores, effective leaders build systems that capture both direct and ripple effects of their actions, enabling smarter decisions and more resilient strategies.

Arthur D. Little’s 2025 CEO Insights study, “Proactively Embracing Change,” reveals that today’s CEOs are confidently navigating geopolitical and economic volatility through bold, proactive strategies. The first in a series of insights, this Advisor explores five strategic imperatives and identifies seven growth areas CEOs are prioritizing, such as institutionalized innovation, ecosystem collaboration, and agile M&A strategies. The study underscores the need for CEOs to transform uncertainty into opportunity by embedding agility, resilience, and forward-thinking into their organizations.

In today’s business landscape, purpose is essential — not a side note. Yet, many purpose-driven efforts lose momentum due to common behavioral pitfalls. Drawing from the Purpose-in-Practice Community, this Advisor identifies nine traps that undermine lasting, transformative change. Avoiding these traps can help leaders embed purpose more meaningfully and sustainably across their organizations.

This Advisor argues that professional ethics education must go beyond rules and codes of conduct to truly prepare individuals for the complex, high-stakes challenges of modern professional life. It advocates for a virtue ethics approach — rooted in purpose, character, and moral reasoning — as essential to shaping a resilient, reflective, and ethically grounded professional identity. Drawing on Stoic philosophy, the article emphasizes the importance of joy, fulfillment (eudaimonia), and the cardinal virtues as guiding principles for meaningful and ethical professional practice.