Services - Success Stories

A CEO Committed to Leaving a Lasting Legacy

The Situation

A young CEO of a successful software start-up realized that he might not be the best person to lead his company through its next phase of growth. He wished to ensure that he would be able to pass on a lasting legacy to his company, assuring their continued success and growth in a competitive market. He sought to explore his own aspirations both within and beyond his company.

What We Did

Through an interview-based 360° process, we conducted a comprehensive leadership and role assessment of the CEO. The assessment process revealed:

• The CEO was widely viewed as a visionary, strategic leader, dynamic, articulate, charismatic, and able to see and seize emerging market opportunities - many felt he exemplified the role of a successful entrepreneur; he represented himself and the business well to the market, to investment analysts, and to stakeholders; he was persuasive and influential - able to galvanize the support and interest of others, leading his team and the broader organization to exceptional performance.
• He was respected for his ability to create a climate of high performance and accountability; his empowerment of others had been a leading factor in creating the conditions that allowed him and others to achieve goals beyond their expectations.
• However, the more experienced leaders around the CEO felt he was not yet a fully seasoned leader - he was often impulsive and reactive, at times overly focused on his own self-interest; he had not yet established an organizational culture in which people were truly open to new ideas using skillful discussion and engaged in thoughtful, strategic planning rather than persistent reaction to events.
• The CEO had devoted little time and attention to developing the leaders around him; as a result, the organization had not yet achieved the bench strength needed to tackle the sustained growth phase into which the organization was moving.

The Results

The CEO and the organization took decisive action in several ways:

• Through a year of individual coaching, the CEO acknowledged his key leadership strengths as an entrepreneur and admitted his interest and creative energies were consistently drawn to start-up leadership roles; he recognized that a different leadership style would be needed for his company to achieve sustainable, scalable growth.
• The CEO launched an objective, comprehensive succession planning process; he prepared the organization for a thoughtful, well-timed departure to ensure a smooth transition of leaders.
• The CEO took on a key role in the succession search process, considering both internal and external candidates; with our help, he developed a CEO succession profile - identifying the critical skills needed to ensure effective leadership for the organization - and applied it consistently against all candidates.
• Communication and messaging around the succession were carefully planned with the assistance of key leaders and Board members; care was taken to reassure all stakeholders that this was the best possible move to ensure the organization's continued growth and success.
• Greater attention was given to developing the next-level leaders, both as a potential pool of CEO successors but also with the goal of raising the level of leadership at the highest levels throughout the company.

The Outcome

Ultimately, a formal succession plan with a timetable for action was agreed upon with the Board and senior executive team; the CEO was assured of leaving a lasting, valued legacy, and, with the Board's approval, he began to consider ways in which he could better use his creative energies on behalf of the company during his remaining time as CEO.

To obtain these results see our CEO Coaching Services.