Publicly Traded Global Infrastructure Company

Situation: CEO and CHRO wanted a planned and rigorous CEO succession process designed in the context of a continually changing industry.  A thoughtful assessment and development process was designed for the entire leadership team to support the CEO on a three to five-year journey to transitioning to the Chairman role.

Solution:  Executive assessments and extensive 360 stakeholder interviews were conducted to identify strengths and gaps for each executive and begin planning for stretch assignments for potential CEO successors. The process helped the CEO and CHRO to improve the overall leadership team’s approach to development and collaboration individually and in aggregate. The resulting robust aggregate data was used for leadership development, and offsites were held quarterly for the leadership team to advance cohesion and alignment with a new sense of engagement from the team. We coached the CEO and key members of the leadership team over the course of the years leading up to the succession event.

Impact: The CEO transition was smooth and well-received by internal and external stakeholders. The aggregate data on the leadership team continued to impact leadership decisions, succession planning, and bench strength development for C-2 layers for years since the initial engagement.  The CEO, CHRO, and board credited the work as the difference between a disrupted transition versus the optics of a natural evolution of leadership changes and sustained organizational engagement.