The CEO's Personal Advisory Board: A Solution to Leadership Loneliness

The CEO's Personal Advisory Board: A Solution to Leadership Loneliness
An Emerging Model: The CEOs Personal Advisory Board
Reed Hastings and Sheryl Sandberg: Two Reference Cases
Structured Approaches to Building Advisory Support
Why Personal Advisory Boards Matter Now
Creating Your Own Personal Advisory Board
Conclusion

The CEO's Personal Advisory Board: A Solution to Leadership Loneliness

Leadership isolation is one of the most persistent challenges facing CEOs today. The Chief Executive Officer carries the responsibility of steering the organization, inspiring the team, dealing with investors, driving innovation, cutting costs, managing crises, and keeping up morale… all at once. It is undoubtedly a position of great responsibility, visibility, and influence — but also of deep isolation.

As research consistently confirms, the position at the top can be extraordinarily lonely, with significant impacts on performance and decision-making.

While 25% of CEOs report frequent loneliness, 55% acknowledge experiencing moderate yet significant bouts of loneliness¹
The loneliness stems not from a lack of social connections but from “the heavy burden of leadership and decision-making”

This isolation is not just emotional — it’s structural. The CEO cannot share certain doubts with the board. They cannot show vulnerability in front of their team. And they rarely find true peers with whom they can openly discuss the most complex dilemmas of their role. As a result, many decisions are made in an echo chamber, lacking genuine feedback, diverse perspectives, or space for strategic questioning.

One emerging solution gaining traction is the personal advisory board—an informal council of trusted advisors specifically chosen to support the CEO.

An Emerging Model: The CEOs Personal Advisory Board

In the United States, the United Kingdom, and parts of Asia, a growing number of leaders are building personal advisory boards — informal councils made up of trusted advisors, mentors, or strategic peers handpicked by the CEO.

Unlike a formal board of directors, this group holds no fiduciary responsibility or political agenda. Their role is to listen, challenge, advise, and support the leader in a relationship based on trust and ongoing development. A personal board typically consists of three to five handpicked members — former board members, founders, industry leaders, or experienced executive coaches — with lived experience, integrity, and the ability to challenge thinking.

Platforms such as BoardX (US) and The Supper Club (UK) have been promoting this kind of structure in a more systematic way, connecting CEOs with former executives, investors, founders, and subject matter experts. But even without these platforms, many leaders are already intuitively building their own personal boards — and reporting clear benefits:

Strategic clarity: Testing ideas with trusted advisors before formal presentation
Emotional resilience: Having safe spaces to express vulnerability and doubt
Broader perspective: Accessing diverse viewpoints to avoid echo chambers
Anticipatory guidance: Receiving advice from those who've navigated similar challenges
Personal development: Growing through structured reflection and feedback

Reed Hastings and Sheryl Sandberg: Two Reference Cases

Several high-profile leaders have benefited from personal advisory boards:

Reed Hastings, co-founder of Netflix, is known for maintaining a close circle of informal advisors throughout his career — trusted individuals with whom he tested ideas before taking them to the board or executive team. In a Harvard Business Review article², he mentioned the importance of having people outside the formal structure of the company to help him think strategically — without filters — especially during key transitions in Netflix’s business model.

Sheryl Sandberg (former COO of Facebook/Meta) has also highlighted, in interviews and in her books, the crucial role of her inner circle — a personal board of mentors and peers, including former CEOs, founders, and senior executives. She has said that her personal board of directors was one of the most important factors in helping her maintain clarity and balance during Facebook’s most intense years³

Structured Approaches to Building Advisory Support

Organizations such as YPO (Young Presidents’ Organisation), Vistage, and The Supper Club (UK) have created peer advisory structures that serve a similar purpose — personal boards for CEOs and founders.

These are highly confidential forums where leaders share tough decisions, strategic dilemmas, and leadership experiences with total openness — something that is often not possible in formal boards or with direct reports. These peer groups have been gaining momentum, especially in fast-paced and innovation-driven markets like the US and UK.

Why Personal Advisory Boards Matter Now

The business world is increasingly complex, volatile, and interconnected. Today’s CEO is expected to be rational and inspiring, fast and thoughtful, resilient and empathetic — all at once. This multiplicity of roles requires a smart, well-designed support system — not just ad hoc coaching or one-off consulting sessions.

Creating a personal advisory board means acknowledging that great leadership demands active listening, diverse thinking, and structured moments for reflection. It’s not about weakness. It’s about strategic intelligence.

Creating Your Own Personal Advisory Board

To establish an effective personal advisory board:

Identify diverse expertise: Look for 3-5 individuals with complementary skills and experiences different from your own.
Prioritize trust and candor: As Ryan Niddel notes, “There can be a perception that CEOs have it all figured out, but that’s not necessarily the case—and it’s okay to admit that and get guidance”⁴
Establish clear structure: Meetings can be quarterly, one-on-one or in group format, face-to-face or remote. What matters most is mutual trust and a clear pact of confidentiality and genuine contribution.
Prepare specific challenges: Bring real dilemmas to your advisors, not just status updates.
Commit to continuity: The board’s value grows over time as members develop deeper understanding of your situation.

Conclusion

If the CEO is the most strategic asset in an organization, shouldn’t the support structure reflect that same level of strategic care? Creating a safe space where a leader can think more clearly is, ultimately, a governance decision — and one of the smartest ways to safeguard both the sustainability of the business and the well-being of the person leading it. By establishing a personal advisory board, CEOs can transform leadership isolation into a strategic advantage, ensuring more balanced decision-making, greater emotional wellbeing, and ultimately, more sustainable leadership over time.