Life at the top of a private company can often feel isolating, what some experts describe as “commercial loneliness.” According to Harvard Business Review, nearly half of CEOs admit to feeling lonely in their role, and over 60% believe that it negatively impacts their performance.
Public company executives, surrounded by structured governance systems, independent boards, and a wealth of external advisors, often benefit from a network that challenges their decisions and guides strategy. Private company CEOs, on the other hand, typically navigate those same high-stakes decisions with limited independent support, an overlooked gap that can profoundly affect performance, growth, and long-term value creation.
The Governance Gap
The disparity starts with governance. Leaders of public companies operate within a rigorously defined framework of accountability. Their boards include seasoned, non-executive directors who bring independent judgment, diverse perspectives, and an obligation to challenge assumptions. This structure fosters both strategic clarity and operational discipline.
Private businesses rarely enjoy that same infrastructure. Their boards often consist of founders, investors, or family members with deep loyalty to the company but limited external perspective. The result? A well-intentioned echo chamber. When everyone around the table shares the same experience, and often, the same blind spots, even the most capable CEOs risk missing emerging threats or underestimating opportunities.
The absence of independent oversight doesn’t just affect governance; it stifles innovation and scalability. Without strategic friction, that healthy tension that sharpens ideas, many organizations plateau earlier than they should.
The Control Paradox
Ironically, what draws most entrepreneurs to build private enterprises in the first place – control – is often what limits their ability to grow. The thought of introducing independent directors or outside advisors can feel like surrendering influence over one’s own company.
But that desire for autonomy can come at a hidden cost. Research from the Business Development Bank of Canada found that companies with formal advisory support outperformed their peers by 24% in sales growth and 18% in productivity. The data is clear: when leaders open themselves to external input, their companies become more resilient and perform better.
It’s a paradox many founder-CEOs face, the instinct to preserve control ends up limiting the very success they’re trying to protect.
The Talent Hurdle
Even when private CEOs want to bring in experienced guidance, attracting top talent to serve on their boards can be challenging. Public company directorships come with prestige, compensation, and defined responsibilities. Private boards, by contrast, often lack structure and carry more perceived risk.
For many high-caliber professionals, joining a closely held business board feels ambiguous or even risky. Without formal governance protections or clear decision-making authority, potential advisors may hesitate to participate.
That leaves many growing businesses stuck in what could be called the “champagne-taste, ginger-beer-budget” dilemma, big ambitions but limited access to the experience needed to realize them.
The Cost of Going It Alone
Operating without structured external advice has tangible consequences. Private CEOs are responsible for decisions spanning capital allocation, market expansion, digital transformation, and leadership development. Yet too often, those decisions are made in isolation, influenced mainly by internal voices with shared biases or limited exposure to global best practices.
When crises strike, economic downturns, regulatory shifts, or major technology disruptions, public company leaders can lean on independent directors who’ve navigated similar challenges. Private leaders, meanwhile, must rely on intuition, often under immense pressure and without objective counsel.
This “solo decision-making” model can magnify blind spots and delay crucial actions. Studies from McKinsey & Company show that diverse perspectives lead to significantly better business outcomes, yet many private CEOs still operate without mechanisms to ensure such diversity of thought.
The Advisory Board Advantage
One increasingly popular solution is the Advisory Board, a structure that combines independence with flexibility. Unlike formal boards of directors, advisory boards don’t hold fiduciary authority. Instead, they serve as high-value strategic partners, offering independent insights while allowing the CEO to retain full decision-making control.
An effective advisory board brings together professionals with complementary expertise, finance, operations, innovation, leadership, technology, who serve as trusted sounding boards. They provide an environment where CEOs can explore ideas, test strategies, and receive candid feedback without fear of jeopardizing control.
According to research from the Business Development Bank of Canada, over 85% of companies that implemented advisory boards reported measurable improvements in vision, innovation, risk management, and profitability. Beyond measurable metrics, CEOs consistently note that these boards help them regain perspective, make faster strategic decisions, and reduce the isolation that often accompanies leadership.
Bridging Experience and Autonomy
For private leaders, the key lies in designing governance structures that evolve with the company’s growth. A startup founder may not need a full board, but as the business matures, so should its decision-support architecture. Advisory boards offer that scalable framework, a bridge between informal mentorship and formal corporate governance.
They allow CEOs to preserve what makes entrepreneurship rewarding, agility, speed, and ownership, while gaining the objectivity and accountability essential for sustained success.
The best leaders understand that independence and support aren’t opposites; they’re complementary. True control comes not from isolating decisions but from equipping yourself with the right perspectives to make them better.
