The surprising power of interim CEOs
By Joy Taylor | Published: 2025-10-31 10:54:00 | Source: Fast Company – leadership-2
In the crucial years for American business, founding CEOs were almost synonymous with the companies they led. Walt Disney He was Disney incarnate; Dale Carnegie came to represent the steel industry itself. These figures were not just company leaders; They were the center of gravity around which entire industries revolved.
Those days are over. Although we still have echoes of contemporary CEOs like Tim Cook or Richard Branson, such CEOs, too, are becoming rarer. In fact, the average CEO tenure is Lowest in modern history. Over the past three years, CEO turnover has reached Record levelsWith 58 leadership changes in the S&P 500 Lonely. This pattern has led senior officials to focus on a new leadership strategy: hiring interim CEOs.
Eighteen percent of all new CEOs These are temporary appointments compared to 7% just one year ago. To most people, they are still seen as a lame duck or a hired gun, sent to take care of primitive corporate duties; At best, a suboptimal substitute for the right leader. However, the smartest companies are no longer referring interim CEOs to their remaining role. Instead they empower them to be dynamic actors, essential for transforming organizations, breaking old patterns, and enacting fast, bold changes.
Interim CEOs have unique opportunities to make a difference
Temporary assignments occupy a limited space in the risk-averse business world. Their temporary status frees them from the common pitfalls that others often get caught up in: being politicized, bullied, and watched instead of doing it. However, with the right instincts and a good plan, the best interim CEOs can assess internal dynamics, align fellow leaders, and make key decisions while laying the groundwork for their successors or becoming permanent fixtures themselves.
When James Cornelius was named interim CEO of Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2006, he led expanded strategic partnerships and top-down initiatives to reduce costs and risks. His eight-month interim tenure was marked by focus and urgency that earned him a full-time position, where he remained for years. Besides just righting the ship, he made decisions faster than any permanent CEO could. While the past three years saw negative year-on-year growth, Cornelius put Building Management Services back on track by achieving a Nearly double digits year over year profit He increases.
With the trust of their fellow executives and shareholders, interim CEOs have the opportunity to move forward with the expectation of growth and new horizons, free from time pressures and traditional deadlines. They can manage change in senior management, and make difficult but necessary decisions without bias.
When Chipotle’s genius CEO, Brian Nicol, left for Starbucks, many wondered who could follow his historic tenure. Instead of a distinguished CEO from another organization, Chipotle hired Scott Boatwright, an interim CEO, from among the rank-and-file employees. Drawing on his previous experience in operations management, Boatwright successfully removed bottlenecks and streamlined the decision-making process from top to bottom, using his unique skill set to maintain the company’s previous momentum. Solid end of year. These successful initiatives led him to… Solid seat On top of the fast casual empire, where it still stands.
Either way, the new permanent executive may have felt pressure to keep the ship on autopilot rather than turning the wheel. With interim CEOs, these companies gave their leaders the freedom to make fundamental change, resulting in a healthy balance sheet and a naturally proven successor — the two main goals of any leadership transition.
Temporary period, real risks
Make no mistake, there are countless reasons why companies may choose to play it safe by limiting the remit of interim CEOs. Leadership mistakes not only put the new leader at risk, but they can also create long-term impacts that extend beyond his or her tenure.
Take Reddit’s interim CEO, Ellen Pao, who took the helm in 2014 when the company was steadily on its way toward an IPO. Pao has implemented massive top-down changes to the site’s rules and guidelines that go against Reddit’s founding spirit. Cause disturbance Among hundreds of thousands of users. You fired popular long-time employees, losing both internal trust and community support.
While Bao may have started the problem, it didn’t end with her. As is often the case, a period of mismanagement led to cultural decay that lasted for years. The co-founder of Reddit had to come and The right to ship the company During the next half decade.
Interim leaders need a long-term vision
As CEO tenures continue to shorten and transitions become a fact of life, interim leadership appointments will become the ultimate turning point for the future of the organization. Not every interim CEO appointment is doomed to fail — far from it — but Reddit’s woes show why executive buy-in and clear company goals are so important.
There is a term in executive circles for this: leadership alignment.
Successful companies allow the interim CEO to take charge, but they also require everyone else in the executive group to define their boundaries and set firm values by which they must adhere. Larger organizations will also allow stakeholders and employees to comment on those values to inspire more confidence in the new boss.
Some major companies have proven successful at aligning leadership. When the goal was It fell in 2014longtime CEO John Mulligan stepped in to lead them into the future. As it is He said himselfStrong support and clear guidance from other executives was exactly what he needed.
The term temporary no longer means “ineffective”. During a leadership transition, the ship still has to go somewhere.
So companies that give even their temporary leaders the mandate to navigate uncharted waters will sail ahead and perform much better than those who force them to drift with the tide.
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(tags for translation) CEO (R) Leadership
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