CEO Succession Planning: From Future Vision to Search Profile
Transcript
How do you plan a CEO succession? A CEO succession is not just a personnel
decision, but a decision about direction.
If you simply carry forward the profile of the current CEO, you're searching for
the past.
It starts with a vision of the next three to five years.
Where should the company grow? Which organization and capabilities does it need to
get there? And which parts of today's culture secure success?
And which ones hold back the next phase?
From this vision comes the mandate.
It defines three to five results the new CEO is expected to achieve.
It clarifies which decisions the CEO makes alone and which stay with the board, and
it weighs what should be preserved and what needs to change.
Only now is the search profile described.
Experience is defined as situations a person must have successfully handled.
Leadership is described as observable behavior, and only a few requirements are
truly non-negotiable.
Internal and external candidates are assessed against the same criteria.
Being well-known is neither a bonus nor a penalty, and even with a strong internal
option, a look at the market helps to calibrate expectations.
Wiersum Partners supports you in planning your CEO succession from the future
vision to a robust search profile. Find out more on our website.
How Do You Plan a CEO Succession?
Wirz & Partners is a Swiss executive search boutique with deep expertise in recruiting board-level, C-suite, and senior leadership talent. A CEO succession is not just a personnel decision, but a decision about the company’s direction. Simply carrying forward the profile of the current CEO means searching for the past.
Sound succession planning therefore starts with a vision of the next three to five years: in which markets should the company grow, which organization and capabilities does it need to get there, and which parts of today’s culture secure success while others hold back the next phase? This vision shapes the CEO mandate. It defines three to five concrete results, clarifies decision rights between the CEO and the board, and weighs what should be preserved and what needs to change.
Only then is the search profile described. Experience is framed as situations a person must already have handled successfully, and leadership as observable behavior. Only a few requirements are treated as non-negotiable, so the candidate market isn’t narrowed unnecessarily. Internal and external candidates are then assessed against the same criteria: being well known is neither a bonus nor a penalty, and a look at the market helps to calibrate expectations realistically.
The video shows how to plan a succession step by step, from the future vision to a robust search profile.
