The Board’s Role in Selecting a New CEO
When an organization’s CEO leaves, it is the board’s responsibility to select a quality replacement. How the board engages in this selection process varies greatly. Some boards review all the applications. Others establish a selection committee to short list the best candidates. Yet others engage an outside third party to assist with the process. In some organizations the full board interviews the top few candidates and selects the best fit, while in others the board ratifies the first choice candidate presented by the board’s selection committee. And there are many other elements and variations on how the board exercises its responsibility to select the new CEO.
What are your experiences and thoughts on effective CEO selection strategies? In what steps is it meaningful for the whole board to be engaged? In what ways can a sub-committee or third party provide useful assistance to the board as it selects the most appropriate CEO to lead the organization’s operations?
