Navigating Leadership Transitions: Advice for New CEOs
Recently on The Science of Personality, cohosts Ryne Sherman, PhD, and Blake Loepp spoke with Ty Wiggins, PhD, who is the lead for the CEO and executive transition practice at Russell Reynolds Associates. He is the author of The New CEO: Lessons from CEOs on How to Start Well and Perform Quickly (Minus the Common Mistakes).
Ty was inspired to write The New CEO due to his extensive work on the underexplored topic of CEO and senior leadership transitions. He interviewed 35 new CEOs for insights on navigating this challenging process.
Keep reading to learn the goals for a first-time CEO’s first six months, what personality characteristics support CEO success, and three variables that can make or break a CEO transition.
The first 90 to 100 days for most new CEOs are often overemphasized in terms of the impact CEOs can have in that period. Ty suggested that their time is better served by listening, learning, and avoiding major errors rather than making significant or radical changes. Instead, one of the key priorities of the first six months of a new CEO—especially a first-time CEO—is to assess the true state of the business.
Ty asked CEOs what surprised them about their first few months. “One of the top responses was that the state of the business was a negative surprise in that it wasn’t quite what was written on the can,” he said. Other priorities within the first six months are to align the senior executive team, build relationships with the board to gain support, and understand the company culture.
