business management
The Next Chapter in CEO Succession Planning By Brian H. Conlin
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wo years ago, in the January/ February 2018 edition of this publication, I shared a process and structure to support CEO succession planning and execution. The article was based on a book I wrote with Natalie Michael, Your CEO Succession Playbook: How to Pass the Torch So Everyone Wins. Since that book’s publication, we have helped dozens of CEOs and their boards with succes22
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sion planning. We have found most businesses do not have proper CEO succession plans. Their leaders often wait until it is too late. Our findings align with a recent study of S&P 500 companies by Russell Reynolds, which found the average tenure of CEOs between 2003 and 2015 was about six years, while approximately 13% of CEOs depart-
ed even more quickly, usually by being forced out. Proactive succession planning early in a CEO’s tenure can help mitigate disruptive changes at the top. So, why do so many business leaders put it off? A trend in consulting engineering Readers of this magazine are likely aware of at least several small to mid-
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January/February 2020
2020-02-03 7:36 AM
