The gap between public company directors and their shareholders has widened dangerously in the past five years — and investors and companies are both suffering as a result.

In many ways, this development is understandable, given the amount of turbulence boards have experienced since 2008. Some of this turbulence is the product of internal dynamics — the need to improve liquidity, strengthen balance sheets and cut costs. And some is the product of external factors, such as volatile capital markets and government action and inaction. The upshot is that it has made boards extremely