Public boards typically limit their interactions with CEOs and other company leaders to formal scheduled meetings. PE boards eschew that approach in an effort to stay deeply connected with company decisions. Courtney della Cava, global head of portfolio talent and organizational performance at Blackstone, shared, “We encourage our board members to interact regularly with their respective business and functional leads as well as the CEO and other board members.” She emphasized that, whereas public company CEOs tend to think of board relations as about managing the board, in the PE model, that approach won’t work. A partnership mentality is best in the public context, also, but under PE ownership, its imperative. PE firm boards aren’t interested in slide presentations or any of the theater of public board meetings.
In recent years, to further enhance the support the board can provide, some PE firms have been appointing a select number of independent directors to work directly with senior executives in addition to the CEO.