These illustrations were created for a presentation designed by Opto Design on tips to analyse, plan and implement a CEO succession.
Disruption, aggressive investors, and intense competition have made life at the top of the corporate world even more hectic and pressure-filled.But 19 percent of all CEOs — typically company founders or visionaries who transformed their organizations — manage to remain at the top for 10 or more years.The vast majority of long-serving CEOs leave office in a planned succession are followed by a company insider.But their successors face a difficult path. Following a legend is not for the faint of heart.Successors generally have shorter tenures than the long-serving CEOs they replaced, stock performance under them tends to suffer, and they are more likely to be forced out. We’ve identified several game-changing practices that will substantially contribute to success for new CEOs.Build your own brand.Set the agenda.Find the right pace for change.Engage the board as a strategic partner.Get the culture working with you.Pursuing these agenda items is not an ironclad guarantee of success. But if boards and leaders are aware of the problems they face at these critical points, they will have a greater opportunity to succeed.
Disruption, aggressive investors, and intense competition have made life at the top of the corporate world even more hectic and pressure-filled.But 19 percent of all CEOs — typically company founders or visionaries who transformed their organizations — manage to remain at the top for 10 or more years.The vast majority of long-serving CEOs leave office in a planned succession are followed by a company insider.But their successors face a difficult path. Following a legend is not for the faint of heart.Successors generally have shorter tenures than the long-serving CEOs they replaced, stock performance under them tends to suffer, and they are more likely to be forced out. We’ve identified several game-changing practices that will substantially contribute to success for new CEOs.Build your own brand.Set the agenda.Find the right pace for change.Engage the board as a strategic partner.Get the culture working with you.Pursuing these agenda items is not an ironclad guarantee of success. But if boards and leaders are aware of the problems they face at these critical points, they will have a greater opportunity to succeed.
