For those who don’t know the intimate details of my life, I see myself as a bit of a cinephile. I ‘ve spent years studying film, made a few student shorts, and watched enough Kubrick and Hitchcock to reliably bore people at happy hours.
So, this part of the year — Oscar season! — is particularly exciting for me. I try to see as many Best Picture nominees as possible, but I’ll spare you extended reviews. F1 was loud. Bugonia was weird. Sinners was a tad bit overrated. Frankenstein was sleep-inducing. And Sentimental Value was … very Scandinavian.
Of the 2025 films nominated for Best Picture, my favorite was One Battle After Another from Paul Thomas Anderson, the filmmaker who brought the world Boogie Nights, Punch-Drunk Love and Phantom Thread. The film has electric performances, beautiful cinematography, exhilarating car chases and, well, something to say. It also has (and this will be a cut that rivals the 2001: A Space Odyssey bone toss for moving you from one subject to another) the ability to make me think about private company governance.
After all, “one battle after another” is exactly what boards are fighting these days when it comes to handling the cavalcade of risks that are flying at them and their companies. Over the course of a series of conversations I was lucky to have with private company owners and directors over the last several weeks, I learned of the risks that are most significant for private companies at this time, and the list is long.
Private company boards are wrestling with a volatile geopolitical environment, including the effects of the Trump administration’s tariff strategy, which makes planning for the long term increasingly difficult. They are guarding their reputations via increased background checks and more focused talent assessment for leaders at both the board and leadership level. Part and parcel with this is a focus on leadership succession and company culture. Boards are devoting whole meetings to CEO succession, making sure they know what the right skills are for leading the company into the future and lining up future leaders who would be able to step in should an emergency take place.
For some boards, one prominent risk is, well, making sure they have time to properly address the risks that are coming at them. They are checking out their agendas to make sure they are allotting enough time for risk discussions. They are considering whether a quarterly meeting schedule is enough to get the job done. They are asking themselves whether they have the right directors on the board to solve the most pressing issues.
And, of course, there is AI and the many risks and opportunities it presents to private companies. Directors are taking courses on AI. They are figuring out how their competitors are using it so they don’t fall behind. They are finding out how the technology can augment the work of their companies’ workforces so they can dampen the concerns many employees have about being “replaced” by AI. In general, they are learning enough about AI to be able to ask questions that will get management to think about the ways that AI can be best leveraged and to know when the answers they are getting are in the right ballpark.
As one of the directors I spoke to said, “The private company/public company gap used to be a chasm. That’s not the case anymore.” Private company boards continue to become more professionalized and sophisticated. They are treating CEO succession as a system, not just an event, with documented succession plans for both the chief executive and the board as well as regular development reviews of internal candidates. They’re normalizing challenge in the boardroom, with chairs who invite dissent and independent directors who are happy to provide it when it is warranted. And most importantly, they are elevating risk oversight from episodic to ongoing, with regular discussions tied to strategy and ownership of key risks at the board level.
So, for the immediate future, should we expect that risks — present ones, emerging ones and ones we don’t even know about right now — will challenge boards with “one battle after another?” Sure. But if directors and their companies continue to plan for such risks and take steps to professionalize their boards in a way that makes scenario planning a more manageable task, it could be that they will be on their way to being “The Master” of risk mitigation … or at least that there won’t be too much blood.