This Harvard Business Review article points out something business journalists and investors often fail to remember and act upon: A CEO going through extreme challenges is usually only as good as his or her board of directors. Target Corp. was an example of this a few years ago. Then Ecolab Chair and CEO Doug Baker Jr. joined the board and quietly led efforts to bring in better directors. Target CEO Brian Cornell has done well ever since (of course, it also helps he received board approval to invest $7 billion into growth initiatives!).
