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🚨 CEO Turnover in Europe Reaches All-Time High – Are You Ready?
📈 New data from Spencer Stuart reveals a seismic shift in Europe’s corporate leadership landscape. In Q1 of 2024 alone, 21 CEOs exited their roles – the highest number ever recorded for a first quarter. And we’re only halfway through the year 😫
Let that sink in 🕳️
🔍 Key Insights
✅ 35% of CEOs left under pressure – indicating rising scrutiny from boards and stakeholders
✅ 81% of successors were internal promotions – boards are clearly betting on continuity
✅ Only 2 women were appointed CEO in Q1 – a concerning signal for gender parity
✅ The average CEO tenure continues to decline, particularly in highly disrupted industries
✅ In FTSE 100 companies alone, CEO transitions increased by 50% YoY
This isn’t just a wave of change — it’s a full-blown storm
I’ve worked with newly appointed CEOs and CHROs around the world.
And the most successful transitions? They all share this in common:
➡️ Preparation begins before the actual appointment
➡️ There’s a clear, structured transition framework and acceleration strategy in place
➡️ Boards and HR play a proactive role in de-risking executive transitions
💡 CEO transitions can occur for a variety of reasons — from underperformance to retirement or an external opportunity. Regardless of the trigger, one thing remains clear: the board should never be caught off guard. Preparing for leadership transitions is arguably the board’s most critical responsibility. Yet, many organizations fall short when it comes to forward-looking succession planning!
🧠 The cost of a failed CEO transition is massive — lost market cap, cultural disruption, and weakened trust across the organization, up t 30x the executive's total package. So, here’s my message to boards, CEOs, CHROs and investors:
🛠️ We must move from succession planning to succession activation.
💬 Curious how to do this? This is exactly what I unpack in my international bestselling book #MasteringExecutiveTransitions — and it’s the core of the work we do with executive teams and boards globally as Certified Transition Coaches™
But don't take my word for it. Take it from a previous CEO client of mine:
📣 CEO of a FTSE company described the transition coaching as follows:
💬 "The transition coaching has really helped me to think through and understand context, leadership, and people, materially better. The coaching has helped me to further mature in my relationship management, decision making and people leadership. Our work has been tremendously useful and I’m confident that it will continue to remain useful both for me and for my executive leadership team.”
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