Selection of the Chief Executive Officer is any board’s most important decision. But most boards don’t have the practices and diligence in place that they know they should around CEO succession planning. Some are even wary about raising the topic - for fear that it will create tensions with the sitting CEO. Others are still using CEO succession practices that are dated and deficient. Many are overly reliant on search firms to “run their process” - essentially “outsourcing” the board’s most important decision. But CEO succession is a critical facet of governance that the board needs to firmly control. The key is knowing how – which, as corporate secretary, you can empower your board to do after this session.