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Your CEO Needs Support
Who does your CEO go to for advice?
In a survey of 90 current and former CEOs by the Corporate Governance Research Initiative at Stanford Graduate School of Business, 82% said they relied on a network of friends, acquaintances and former colleagues for feedback, according to its 2025 CEO Coaching and Kitchen Cabinet Survey. But perhaps more striking is the increase in CEOs using professional coaching — 58%, up from roughly a third a decade ago. Those coaches provide advice on issues such as personal growth and development, leadership and team building, strategy and organizational structure.
“… to be the best at their jobs, [CEOs] need the best possible counsel, above and beyond what the board and paid corporate consultants offer,” said David Larcker, who leads the initiative. The vast majority of CEOs, 73%, said it was primarily their idea to have a coach. More than a quarter received professional coaching due in part to their board’s suggestion.
The Stanford survey doesn’t provide data specific to the banking industry, but there is broad evidence that banks increasingly rely on professional coaching and mentorship.
“There's no question that we have seen an increase in executive coaches supporting the CEO in their own development,” says J. Scott Petty, a partner at the executive search firm Chartwell Partners, which sponsored Bank Director’s 2025 Compensation & Talent Survey. And banks are starting early in these executives’ careers. Of the 265 senior executives and board members responding to the survey, 73% said they would likely use coaching and mentorship programs to strengthen their bank’s bench of C-suite talent; 62% of responding board chairs and independent directors used executive coaches, management consultants or recruiters as part of the CEO succession process.
That’s a positive sign, Petty says, but it’s one that’s been born of necessity. The ranks of qualified bank leaders are thin — especially for the CEO spot — and regulators are increasingly asking for formal succession plans.
Stanford suggests the board should understand the CEO’s support system. Amit Seru, professor of finance at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, said in the report: “[B]oards need to be fully informed of how the CEO is supported — both through professional coaching and kitchen cabinet advisors — to help them better calibrate their own roles and provide more effective oversight.”
• Emily McCormick, vice president of editorial & research for Bank Director
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