????但很多首席執(zhí)行官在接受新的挑戰(zhàn)時(shí)，都會(huì)辭去部分或全部的董事會(huì)職務(wù)。根據(jù)獵頭公司史賓沙（Spencer Stuart）的研究，過(guò)去10年在任首席執(zhí)行官在外部董事會(huì)任職的人數(shù)減少了近50%，如今只有不到一半的首席執(zhí)行官在外部董事會(huì)兼職。

????為了彌合首席執(zhí)行官本人和董事會(huì)及股東在首席執(zhí)行官兼任外部董事會(huì)職務(wù)一事上的分歧，如今很多董事會(huì)都主動(dòng)限制首席執(zhí)行官在外部董事會(huì)的兼職行為（完全不允許或最多只允許一家），并將其作為聘用的條件之一。假設(shè)惠特曼服務(wù)外部董事會(huì)的時(shí)間為【全國(guó)公司董事協(xié)會(huì)（the National Association of Corporate Directors）發(fā)布的】平均水平，那么她每月服務(wù)外部董事會(huì)的時(shí)間就要超過(guò)51個(gè)小時(shí)。股東們未來(lái)必須決定，公司的現(xiàn)任首席執(zhí)行官兼任三家外部董事會(huì)職務(wù)是不是太多了，況且這家公司的股價(jià)尚未完全從她任職董事會(huì)期間由公司自身因素引發(fā)的暴跌中恢復(fù)過(guò)來(lái)。

????惠普首席獨(dú)立董事拉吉夫?古普塔是化學(xué)材料制造商Avantor Performance Materials的董事長(zhǎng)、新山資本（New Mountain Capital）的高級(jí)顧問(wèn)，并在德?tīng)柛Ｆ嚕―elphi Automotive）、泰科（Tyco）、先鋒集團(tuán)（Vanguard Group）“以及幾家非上市公司的”董事會(huì)中兼職?；萜招匠晡瘑T會(huì)主席帕特?拉索除了惠普，還服務(wù)于另外4家公司的董事會(huì)。

????或許今年，股東們將在高管薪酬和董事會(huì)選舉上發(fā)出更多不同的聲音。否則，我們明年可能會(huì)看到更加變本加厲的做法。

????本文作者埃莉諾?布洛斯罕是董事會(huì)咨詢機(jī)構(gòu)The Value Alliance and Corporate Governance Alliance(http://thevaluealliance.com/)的首席執(zhí)行官。

????But many CEOs resign some or all of their board seats when taking on new challenges. According to Spencer Stuart research, there has been a nearly 50% decline in active CEOs serving on boards in the last 10 years and currently less than half of CEOs serve on any outside board.

????To address how a CEO may view outside board membership versus how the board and shareholders may view it, many boards today actively limit CEO participation on outside boards (to none or one) as a condition of employment. If Whitman only works the average amount of hours for directors (according to the National Association of Corporate Directors), her outside board service takes up over 51 hours a month. Shareholders will have to decide if three outside boards is too many for a sitting CEO in a company whose stock price has still not fully recovered from the self-induced shocks that have occurred while she was sitting on HP's board.

????Lead director Rajiv Gupta, chairman of Avantor Performance Materials and senior advisor to New Mountain Capital, sits on the HP board plus the boards of Delphi Automotive (DLPH), Tyco, The Vanguard Group "and several private companies." Pat Russo, who heads the compensation committee, sits on five boards including HP.

????Maybe shareholders will decide to send a message on pay and board elections this year. If they don't, maybe next year, we'll just see more of the same.

????Eleanor Bloxham is CEO of The Value Alliance and Corporate Governance Alliance (http://thevaluealliance.com/), a board advisory firm.