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E-MailTy Wiggins is a Consultant at Russell Reynolds Associates. This post is based on a Russell Reynolds memorandum by Mr. Wiggins, Flávia Leão Fernandes, Marie-Osmonde Le Roy de Lanauze-Molines, and Andrew White.
Few ideas in leadership transitions carry as much weight as the “First 100 Days.” Boards expect quick wins. Investors look for visible signals of confidence. Employees want immediate clarity on direction. The first 100 days have become a near-mythical window for proving a leader’s legitimacy.
202 CEOs stepped down from the world’s largest public companies in 2024—up 9% since 2023.
Source: CEO Turnover Index, Russell Reynolds Associates
The problem is that this narrative, while powerful, is also overplayed. Early wins matter—but they do not alone secure a CEO’s success.
In fact, many of the challenges that determine a CEO’s long-term success don’t surface until well beyond the first 100 days: entrenched cultural resistance, stakeholder misalignment, strategy execution gaps, or the simple fatigue that follows the intensity of the early sprint. So, while a strong first impression is important, it can mask deeper vulnerabilities if it becomes the sole yardstick of success.
For boards and CHROs, the task is to shift the lens. The real test of CEO effectiveness lies not just in the opening months but in sustaining momentum through the first year and beyond.
Here, we explore why support during a CEO’s “First 100 Days” is not enough, and what CHROs can do to ensure new CEOs are supported for long-term impact.
The difference between CEO onboarding and transition
Onboarding and transition are often treated as the same process, but they serve very different purposes.
Onboarding helps a new CEO understand the organization—its structure, priorities, and people. Transition helps them take ownership of it—aligning strategy, culture, and relationships in ways that sustain performance over time.
OnboardingFocuses on access and information |
TransitionFocuses on leadership and impact |
The risk comes from an assumption that once onboarding ends, the hardest work is done. In reality, that’s when it begins. Boards and CHROs need to build structured support to guide this—combining feedback, reflection, and coaching that keep the leader learning long after the introductions are over.
The First 100 Days: The problem with the 100-day sprint
The “First 100 Days” narrative persists because it offers simplicity in a complex moment. It promises that success can be timed, measured, and delivered on schedule. But the reality of leadership is slower and deeper.
Sustained performance comes from pacing, not speed—from understanding before acting, and from building systems that continue to deliver long after the spotlight shifts.
The CEOs who succeed over time are those who listen first, decide later, and grow into the role rather than rushing through it.
Yet many CEOs feel pressure—often from themselves—to demonstrate immediate impact. They arrive eager to make their mark with detailed plans, early announcements, bold priorities, and structural changes designed to signal control.
The reality, however, is that meaningful progress depends on understanding the system before trying to reshape it. Acting without that understanding can create lasting damage.
During the early months, every new CEO must pause long enough to build context: how decisions are made, where influence sits, and what invisible rules govern behavior. Moving too fast risks fixing symptoms rather than causes—or triggering resistance before credibility is earned.
Effective boards and CHROs help create this space. They shift expectations from early activity to early insight, asking not what the CEO has changed but what they have learned. That subtle difference gives leaders permission to listen deeply, pace decisions, and build momentum on solid ground.
What really determines CEO success: The long game of CEO transition
The real work of a CEO transition unfolds across the first 12 to 18 months. By this stage, the excitement of appointment has faded, and the organization begins to test whether the new leadership will deliver real change.
Success depends on strengthening four interconnected areas of leadership that together define sustainable performance.
Together, these four areas form the foundation of a successful transition. When boards and CHROs invest in structured support across each, they give CEOs the perspective and tools to lead deliberately—not just confidently—from the start.
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Strengthening the board partnership
A CEO’s relationship with the board is the most critical determinant of success. It shapes trust, decision-making speed, and ultimately strategic coherence. Early alignment is essential, but it must also be sustained.
Transition support helps new CEOs build that alignment deliberately. Structured onboarding briefings, facilitated chair–CEO sessions, and regular reflection checkpoints keep expectations visible on both sides. Over time, this turns governance from oversight into partnership—creating a board that advises, challenges, and supports with shared intent rather than surprise.
When this relationship works well, the CEO gains a source of stability and perspective that no other stakeholder can provide. This alignment also acts as a safeguard against resistance from other senior executives who may test or challenge the organization’s power dynamics. When the board and CEO present a unified front, it reduces the risk of internal friction and strengthens the CEO’s authority to drive strategic change. That shared stance gives the CEO the confidence and backing needed to implement their vision and foster a culture of trust and alignment across the leadership team.
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Building the right leadership team
No decision signals leadership intent more clearly than the people a CEO chooses to surround themselves with. Many newly appointed CEOs later reflect that they waited too long to make the right changes within their executive team. Early hesitation can constrain their ability to build a team aligned with their strategic vision and slow the organization’s momentum. CEOs who take a deliberate, proactive approach—assessing fit, clarifying expectations, and shaping their teams early—create the alignment and trust needed to accelerate progress and sustain long-term performance.
The transition period is the opportunity to assess capability, define new expectations, and model collaboration across the enterprise.
Purposeful development accelerates this process. Assessments and facilitated team-effectiveness work help the CEO understand individual strengths and group dynamics. Coaching provides space to rehearse the difficult conversations that often accompany top-team change—balancing empathy with clarity.
Through this work, CEOs move from inheriting a team to shaping one: creating a leadership group that reflects the strategy ahead, not the structure they found.
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Translating culture into strategy
Culture determines how fast ideas move and how long they last. For a new CEO, accurately understanding the organization’s unwritten rules is as important as mastering its formal ones.
Transition programs create room for that discovery. Diagnostics and listening exercises surface how the organization truly behaves—what it values, where it hesitates, and which practices drive or block results. Guided reflection then helps the CEO interpret what they’ve learned and decide where to act first.
The aim isn’t to rewrite culture but to connect it more closely to strategy. When a CEO uses culture as a lever—reinforcing the attitudes that accelerate change and adjusting those that slow it—the entire system becomes more coherent.
Successful CEOs also recognize that culture is not static—it evolves alongside leadership and strategy. By engaging early with informal networks and influential culture carriers, new CEOs can surface both the organization’s hidden strengths and its points of resistance. Purposeful participation in key rituals, storytelling, and recognition moments allows the CEO to signal priorities clearly and foster alignment across the enterprise.
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Sustaining perspective and self-awareness
The CEO role is inherently isolating. Every gesture is magnified, and candid feedback grows scarce. Without structured reflection, even the most grounded leaders can lose balance.
Transition support provides that anchor. Regular coaching sessions offer confidential space to process the intensity of the role, while stakeholder feedback ensures that perception and intent stay aligned. Many CEOs also benefit from external peer networks, where they can exchange insights free from internal politics.
This work isn’t remedial—it’s protective. Self-awareness preserves judgment under pressure, enabling leaders to respond thoughtfully rather than react instinctively. Over time, it also models the humility and openness the CEO expects from others.
Lessons for boards and CHROs
Boards and CHROs shape the conditions that determine whether a transition stabilizes or stalls. Their responsibility extends beyond hiring the right leader to maintaining the right environment for that leader to succeed.
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Shift from milestones to momentum
Treating the 100-day mark as a finish line creates false closure. The more useful approach is to invest in structured support through the whole transition period (a new CEO’s first 12-18 months). This is what will lead to pacing, reflection, and long-term leadership maturity, allowing your organization to gain years of lasting impact, not 100 days of activity.
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Treat transition as risk management
CEO transitions are among the highest-risk moments in an organization’s lifecycle. When they fail, they fail expensively—eroding confidence, weakening teams, and damaging reputation. Structured transition support—coaching, mentoring, board facilitation, and diagnostic work—is an investment in stability, not a cost of caution.
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Make development continuous, not episodic
Leadership growth doesn’t stop at appointment. Over the first 18 months, patterns harden—good or bad. Boards and CHROs should build reflection checkpoints around months 6, 12, and 18 to test assumptions, recalibrate goals, and renew energy.
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Stay close
Strong transitions start before appointment. Expose potential successors early to board dynamics, investor relations, and enterprise complexity. Once in role, proximity matters: the chair and CHRO should remain close, providing both challenge and counsel through regular, candid dialogue.
