Cowen Partners Data in Agenda Shows Boards Are Running Out of Successors
Agenda, the Financial Times governance publication, drew on Cowen Partners’ research for a new article examining why CEO turnover has slowed after two years of heavy churn. The piece points to several factors, including a volatile business environment and boards extending greater patience to first-time leaders. Our contribution speaks to a different thread of the story: what’s happening beneath the surface when boards choose to keep the CEO they have.
In the article “Boards Find CEO Change ‘Too Risky’ Now as Exodus Recedes,” our President and Co-Founder, Shawn Cole, adds a note of caution. New research from Cowen Partners indicates that in many cases, boards are retaining incumbent CEOs not by choice, but because their succession pipelines are empty.
External CEO hires at S&P 500 companies jumped from 18% to 33% in a single year, a clear signal that boards are reaching outside because they don’t have internal successors ready to step up. As he puts it in the piece, CEOs aren’t staying because the job is going well or because boards want continuity. They’re staying because there’s no one ready to take over. It’s deferred departure, not genuine stability.
That distinction is the heart of what our Leadership Inflection Point research set out to surface. Deferring a CEO transition doesn’t remove the risk; it postpones it, often into a moment of greater pressure and fewer options. The article reinforces the extent of exposure, citing survey data showing a critical lack of succession planning.
Read the complete article in Agenda, and explore the complete Leadership Inflection Point research here.
About Agenda
Agenda is a boardroom resource with dedicated journalists that deliver independent, original analysis on the U.S. corporate board space. From articles to webcasts, we give busy board members the tools to surmount crises, gain inside perspectives on how other boards are strategizing, and continually add value to their meetings.
About Shawn Cole, President & Cofounder
Shawn is a trusted leader in executive search, known for his ability to drive success through strategic leadership. With over 20 years of experience founding and leading successful companies, he has been frequently quoted in Forbes, Fortune, Bloomberg, and The Wall Street Journal. Shawn’s deep business acumen and forward-thinking approach make him a key partner for organizations looking to build high-impact leadership teams.
Shawn is President and Co-Founder of Cowen Partners Executive Search, a nationally recognized retained executive search firm. Clients across the globe trust Cowen Partners to deliver the executive leadership they need to solve their most complex business challenges.
Cowen Partners: A Leading C-Suite Executive Search Firm in All 50 States
Cowen Partners Executive Search is a leader among the nation’s best CFO executive search firms, enabling companies to harness the power of human capital to fuel their success.
Cowen Partners provides our clients access to proven executive leaders with the capabilities to solve challenges, create opportunities, and accelerate their vision. With Cowen Partners, clients can grow at scale, create value, and drive results with world-class talent. Our clients are both small and large, publicly traded, pre-IPO, private, and non-profit organizations.
Successful placements span the entire C-Suite and include VP and director-level leadership roles.
With our proven processes and guaranteed results, we have successfully placed hundreds of candidates in industries including technology, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, financial services, and private equity.
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