Successful CEO transitions

Board, not a committee, is accountable for selection of chief executive

After writing my book on lessons from the rise and exit of CEOs (Crash, Penguin, 2019) and after reflecting on my 30 years on boards, I state the obvious: Board must be more accountable for CEO selection. While a nominations/selection committee may run a process and a headhunter may be appointed for the search, they do so on behalf of the board, which is the decision-making authority. Hence di­rectors must engage directly with the headhunter/selection committee to en­gage with their views. They must get comfort with the final recommendation. In my experience this does not happen rigorously enough. With im­portant