The value of veterans in the boardroom

As investors and regulators seek more information about how boards oversee the risks that are most critical to the company’s long-term success, boards looking to bolster their risk oversight and cybersecurity capabilities have a largely untapped pool of candidates to consider: former top ranking U.S. military officers. Retired general and flag officers (GFOs), who have honed their leadership and critical decision-making skills in a high-threat environment, can bring extensive risk oversight experience to the board, which may be especially valuable in the context of today’s risk landscape.

CEOs globally ranked environmental and climate change risk, emerging and disruptive technology risk, and a return to territorialism among the top threats to growth, while directors identified business-model disruption, a global economic slowdown, and increased competition for talent as the trends most likely to impact their companies. Additionally, recent events such as the coronavirus outbreak have shown how vulnerable businesses and supply chains can be in today’s environment.

The KPMG BLC talks with directors about the skill sets and experiences that retired GFOs can bring to the boardroom and offers considerations for nominating/governance committees as they recruit retired GFOs for board service.

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