Today’s board members face growing demands on their time. A challenging macro environment and ever-evolving business risks are increasing meeting frequency and requiring faster decision-making. For executives considering a board role, the developmental opportunity may be clear — but what does the role really involve?

In this episode, McKinsey senior partner emeritus and board director, Celia Huber speaks with Christiana Smith-Shi. Christiana is the former President of Nike’s direct-to-consumer division and a seasoned board member with over 14 years of service, including on the boards of Williams Sonoma and Mondelēz International. She currently serves on the boards of Columbia Sportswear and UPS, and as Chair of Habitat for Humanity. In a wide-ranging conversation, Christiana opens the boardroom door to discuss topics including the differences between not-for-profit and corporate boards, the dynamics of CEO transitions, and what drives board effectiveness.

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The Board Perspective

How boards can tackle geopolitical risk

The board’s role in managing emerging AI risks

The AI reckoning: How boards can evolve

CEO Insights: Forging stronger CEO–board partnerships

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Buy-side carve-outs can create significant value for acquiring companies, but they can also present complex challenges. In this episode, we’re joined by Kameron Kordestani, Anna Mattson, and Rui Silva to discuss how leaders—particularly CFOs, integration managers, and CHROs—must balance financial structuring, operational planning, and people management to ensure a value-creating transition.

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How buyers can successfully navigate integrating a carve-out

The power of goodbye: How carve-outs can unleash value

Solving the carve-out conundrum

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Outperformance in private equity is no longer defined by leverage or multiple expansion; disciplined value creation will be the decisive factor in future investment success. In this episode, AD Bhatia, Robin Ligon, and Jason Phillips are joined by CVC’s John Kelleher to discuss the key shifts in today’s PE environment and share five moves firms are making in response. The path to transforming value creation requires a more disciplined playbook: structured re-diligence, holistic transformation under a dedicated transformation leadership, stronger operating-team talent, and the use of AI as a portfolio-wide accelerator.

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2026 Global Private Markets Report

How private equity is using M&A integrations to overcome headwinds

Beating the odds: How private equity firms can improve exit prospects

McKinsey Strategy and Corporate Finance on LinkedIn

McKinsey Transformation on LinkedIn

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