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Members of the boards of U.S. public companies feel the current business environment is better than it was three months ago, even though most of the issues weighing on business, from geopolitics and trade policy to macroeconomic uncertainty and market volatility, remain largely unresolved. However, their increased confidence does not suggest a clear upward trend in the second half of 2026. in corporate directorIn Diligent Institute's second-quarter Director Confidence Index, conducted June 3-8, directors rated current business conditions at 5.9 out of 10, up from 5.6 in the first quarter. This 6% improvement returns the Board Current Rating to the…

The pressure to grow is relentless. The environment is not helping. Tariff disruption, volatile consumer confidence, and AI are reshaping purchasing behavior faster than most organizations can absorb. But we are beginning to see a clearer picture of how we will overcome this period and emerge victorious. Technology can accelerate almost anything, but sustainable growth belongs to companies that treat trusted relationships as their most defensible competitive asset. That was the thread that was flowing chief executive2026 Growth Summit to be held in Nashville. Here are some of the things the participants took home. The product needs to get marketing.…

It's no wonder that the finance and accounting function is undergoing rapid transformation. But what are the biggest changes to watch out for, and how can financial leaders respond? John Raffaele, global head of finance and accounting operations at Emapta, an outsourcing and offshore staffing company based in the Philippines with offices in major U.S. cities, has some thoughts. Finance and accounting burnout is on the rise. What changes should CFOs and company leaders make now to prevent talent loss and reduce pressure on overworked staff? Mandatory billable hour pressures and increased workload demands are challenging experienced and seasoned professionals,…

The legal risks facing companies in 2026 present a shifting, and in some ways unexpected, focus for CEOs. Overall dispute volumes are plateauing—but the cases that do go to trial are producing much higher verdicts. Regulatory actions have shifted with state regulators filling enforcement gaps left by federal agencies pulling back. Reverse discrimination claims are rising, reshaping how companies need to think about their diversity programs and hiring practices. And the AI tools companies adopted to drive efficiency are generating a new category of liability. In January, Norton Rose Fulbright released its annual Litigation Trends Survey, which revealed that only…

Kate Gulliver has been Wayfair's CFO for four years. But she has effectively worked for five different companies under the same roof. There was a story of a pre-IPO toddler, a super-growth rocket ship, a COVID-19 boom, a post-COVID-19 hangover, and now a pivot to growth. Add to this six years of running a human resources function, and you have one of the more unusual and profitable executive trajectories in American business. She shared what she learned at the CFO Leadership Council's 2026 Spring Leadership Conference in Boston. Survival reveals everything. When Wayfair finally decided to turn a profit, every…

Jennifer Langton has built a career through strategic pivots. Beginning in the finance sector, eventually earning the CFO seat at Atari, Langton switched gears for an operational role as senior vice president of player health innovation at the NFL. Now, she’s become a strategic advisor to organizations undergoing transformations of their own. She credits her time as an athlete for the mindset that helped her succeed, no matter the title. At 13, she was the only female player on an all boy’s lacrosse team, and went on to join the Youth Hall of Fame in Long Island and play for…

The headlines don't seem to agree on where the economy is heading, and business leaders, economists, and most importantly, consumers don't seem to agree. Stock markets are booming as millions of wage earners strain under high prices. Employment statistics can be strong or weak from month to month. And with the policy environment changing weekly, planning can feel almost futile. Emily Mandel, senior economist and associate director at Moody's Analytics, came to the CFO Leadership Council's Spring 2026 Leadership Conference in Boston to read up on what's happening, what could happen, and what CFOs can do about it. Her conclusion…

Karen Walker has grown finance organizations at some of the technology industry's fastest-growing companies, including Uber, Pandora, PagerDuty, and cloud security company Sysdig, where she currently serves as both the CFO and a member of the CEO's office. This last role is a new problem. When Sysdig's co-founders needed an operator to go to market and run the company while focusing on product and engineering, Walker stepped in. At the CFO Leadership Council's Spring 2026 Leadership Conference in Boston, she shared what she learned about scale, influence, cyber risk, and what it takes to grow beyond the finance chair. Before…

Coordinated retirement of employees, often referred to as “collective retirement,” is no longer limited to Wall Street and insurance brokers. Competitors across industries are increasingly hiring entire teams to accelerate growth, gain customer relationships, and avoid the slow process of building capacity organically. For CEOs, the impact goes far beyond hiring new employees to replace retirees. Sudden team departures can disrupt operations, weaken customer trust, damage reputations, compromise sensitive information, and cause widespread attrition across the organization. In many industries, hiring established teams is a faster and cheaper growth strategy than acquisitions. Companies can gain customer relationships, organizational knowledge, and…

When Gina Geter joined Hasbro three years ago as CFO and COO, business wasn't in great shape. With thin profit margins and a vast portfolio, the company best known for Monopoly, Nerf, and Transformers needed to figure out what it actually wanted to be when it grew up. Getter has been working with CEO Chris Cox to lead what the company calls its Playing to Win strategy. The idea is to pivot Hasbro away from being a toy company and into, in her words, a “modern play company” built around IP that can survive across physical products, digital games and…