Footnotes
1 See the U.S. Department of Defense, Multimedia Experience, Military Units, for more information about how many service members GFOs in each service branch oversee.
From military service to board service
Insights from directors, investors, and other stakeholders about the value veterans can bring to the boardroom.
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As the responsibilities for board oversight expand, the risk landscape intensifies, and company strategy shifts more frequently, boards must refresh their composition to keep pace. Director skills and experience in cybersecurity, emerging technologies, global affairs, and risk and crisis management have become especially valuable amid the current threat environment.
According to the 2024 KPMG US CEO Outlook, CEOs cite geopolitics and political uncertainty, supply chain, and operational issues as the greatest threats to growth over the next three years. And CEOs ranked the cost of living, cybercrime and cybersecurity issues, and talent as the top trends that could negatively impact their prosperity.
Given this backdrop, corporate boards may consider bringing former top ranking US military officers into their boardrooms. Senior military officers—notably retired general and flag officers (GFOs)—have spent their careers making quick decisions in a high-pressure environment. Their experience overseeing vast budgets, expensive military resources and equipment, and thousands of personnel1 in regions around the globe draws many parallels to the experience of a seasoned corporate executive.
In this article we explore:
- Current trends around retired GFOs serving on boards
- The skills and experience GFOs offer
- How GFOs can best approach the transition to board service
- Considerations for nominating and governance committees
- Investor perspectives
Who are the retired GFOs serving on S&P 500 boards?
56%
are four-star generals or admirals.
40%
served in the US Navy.
33%
are women.
Dive into our thinking :
From military service to board service
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