A startling percentage of new CEOs fail within their first 18 months,
according to many estimates—whether they come from outside or are
promoted from within. Sometimes the new leader makes poor strategic
moves, and sometimes the board makes an imperfect choice, overestimating
a candidate’s abilities or hiring someone whose skill set doesn’t fit
the context. But when succession fails, the responsibility is almost
always shared. New leaders may be unable to read the political situation
clearly or achieve the cultural changes their strategic and operational
agendas require. Boards and key executives may not grasp the complex
nature of CEO succession or consider the likely political and cultural
challenges the new leader will face. A CEO transition is not the same as
onboarding, which is a formal, short-term, agenda-driven orientation
program of briefings and meetings. It is a longer process of
interactions both formal and informal, planned and impromptu; it should
begin when the board’s choice accepts the position and last for months
after he or she arrives. The outgoing CEO, the chief human resources
officer, and the board all have key roles to play in the process, writes
the author, who describes best practices for each. The article includes
an interview with Mark Thompson, CEO of The New York Times Company,
about his own succession process in 2012. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]