Professor Patrick Wright Talks Next Practices on CEO Succession
CEO turnover in the United States has reached the highest levels since 2008, according to a recent report from Bloomberg, and companies are struggling to fill this crucial position effectively. In fact, i4cp found that only 27% of high-performance organizations believe they have competent successors ready to fill executive-level roles. To manage strategic talent gaps, organizations must develop deeper levels of bench strength.
In the latest edition of From Now to Next, Professor Patrick Wright explains the single most important element of CEO succession planning: Data. Professor Wright, a member of i4cp's Thought Leader Consortium and Chair in the University of South Carolina's Darla Moore School of Business, claims that empirical data is the best way of evaluating potential successors and forecasting how they might perform in the CEO role.
But even when there is a "best" way of approaching succession planning, there is still uncertainty. This edition cites some of the current issues:
- CHROs regularly overlook important considerations depending on where they are in the succession process.
- The companies that handle succession planning well still struggle.
- People are people, and their future performance in different settings is not an engineering problem that can be predicted.
From Now to Next concludes with an overview of i4cp's four next practices in CEO succession that CHROs can apply immediately.
The previous edition on global leadership development features Marshall Goldsmith and is one of i4cp's most-downloaded pieces. The next edition of From Now to Next focuses on change management and features Amy Kates, distinguished author and managing partner at KatesKesler Organization Consulting.
i4cp 2015 Conference: Professor Wright will speak at the i4cp 2015 Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., which takes place March 16-19. Register now.
