Why Founder-Led Leadership Transitions Stall—And How To Get Them Right
Cowen Partners Executive Search President and Co-Founder Shawn Cole was featured in Forbes Business Council this week with insights on one of the most critical challenges facing founder-led organizations: leadership transitions.
In his article, “Why Founder-Led Leadership Transitions Stall—And How To Get Them Right,” Cole examines why founder-CEO transitions are significantly more prone to failure than other leadership changes, with risks two to three times higher, according to Harvard Business Review analysis.
Drawing on over 20 years of executive search experience, Cole outlines the emotional and strategic barriers that complicate these transitions, from identity entanglement to siloed thinking. More importantly, he provides actionable strategies for getting succession right, including replacing gut feelings with data-driven decision-making, implementing candidate mapping to expand possibilities, and creating structured transition planning to protect both culture and continuity.
“The challenge in many founder-led transitions isn’t the lack of candidates,” Cole writes. “It’s the founder’s belief that no one else can offer the same mix of vision, courage and knowledge.”
Read the full article HERE
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