This year has seen significant CEO changes, headlined in the popular media by Jeff Bezos’ stepping down at Amazon.
The rationale behind an organization’s choice of a particular C-level executive, and the decisions of the individual themselves, can veer away from best practice.
It seems appropriate, therefore, to review the current best thinking on the criteria used by boards or senior executives in choosing C-level executives (CEO, CFO, Chief Marketing Officers, etc.).
Senior executives obviously want robust criteria when appointing to C-level positions to ensure they select:
- the most suitable individuals.
- high-potential executives who can be groomed for succession planning.
- appointees that ensure development of the senior executives themselves by addressing developmental needs that will fully round out the executive team.
Even reviewing the most recent literature, and via discussions with boards and execs, I keep coming back to the seminal work of the late Harry Levinson, Ph.D. After all, who couldn’t admire the work of someone who wrote a book titled: “The Great Jackass Fallacy”?
In this briefing I’ll summarize Levinson’s key criteria. You can delve…
