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We’re in a CEO pandemic and boards are to blame

In 2023, 1,900 CEOs left their jobs. 19 of them died in office, according to The Wall Street Journal. A Deloitte report found that 82% of CEOs have experienced burnout and 96% of CEOs feel their mental health has declined. The usual suspects of long hours, stress, lack of sleep, lack of exercise and poor eating habits were named as culprits.

Boards need to wake up. There are huge costs if you hire the wrong CEO that fails at their job because they don't take care of themselves. Researchers at Spencer Stuart have estimated that the cost of bad CEO selection is more than $100 billion for global companies.

What happens if you install the wrong CEO? Revenue drops, productivity falls, employee attrition rises. The company suffers by losing momentum, reputation, customer goodwill and organizational trust.

The CEO pandemic that we find ourselves in compels us to explore options to prevent CEO burnout and improve CEO working conditions. Ultimately, this will increase CEO longevity and improve long term enterprise value.

What boards can do about CEO success

It starts with the board. They must develop a future-looking CEO specification when considering a new CEO. The board needs to develop a CEO candidate profile of skills, experiences and temperament that does not make them prone to overwork and avoiding asking for help. In candidate interviews, the board should take care to note how a potential CEO has handled difficult situations and the support network that they relied on.

Once a CEO selection has been made, the board can also set the CEO up for success with a half year plan, which should include the Office of the CEO. Specific development milestones are important to put into writing so that a strong Executive Operations function is properly implemented to help the CEO succeed. This can massively derisk an incoming CEO’s arrival.

Finally, the board must be mindful of its CEO demands during board meetings. The nature of these CEO-board discussions should be firm but open, rather than harsh and reprimanding, especially when company performance is failing. One particularly brutal set of firing squad questions could tip an already anxious CEO towards a downward spiral.

Remember, the board has a fiduciary duty of care - they must act in good faith, with the best interests of the corporation in mind, and with the care of an ordinary prudent person. In other words, they need to treat CEOs like human beings who stumble sometimes and need help to get back on their feet.

Curious, did this resonate? What else can boards do to prevent CEO burnout?

Chief of Staff Jobs

Welcome to our Chief of Staff job board. If you have a Chief of Staff job you’d like shared to 2,000+ readers of this newsletter or need hands-on recruiting help to hire your Chief of Staff, reply to this email.

Chief of Staff, Edible Arrangements, Atlanta, GA, Food and Beverage, Corporate

Chief of Staff, Mia Share Inc., Salt Lake Metropolitan Area, Finance, Corporate

Chief of Staff, Bayou City Hemp Company, Houston, TX, Food and Beverage Manufacturing, Corporate

Chief of Staff, TriWest Healthcare Alliance, Phoenix, AZ, Insurance, Corporate

Director of Finance & Chief of Staff, Mind & Life Institute, Charlottesville, VA, Health Care, Non-Profit

Chief of Staff to the CTO, WorldQuant, Austin, TX, Finance, Corporate

Help Us Grow

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Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for next week’s edition.

Until next week,

Mackenzie

Mackenzie Lee | Founder & CEO
M: 650.283.4152 | E: [email protected]
New York City, NY
www.CedarChief.com

At Cedar, we turn executives into fast and fearless leaders.

Thanks to technology, changing markets, and demanding investors, the C-suite job is tougher than ever. We help executives find freedom from blockers and busywork.

Our mission is to help 1 million CEOs and their C-suite teams let go and do more of the things that matter. We help you hire a Chief of Staff, build an Office of the CEO, and implement C-suite operating systems.

On average our clients see a 25% meeting reduction, 20% strategic sales increase, and 2x speed-to-execution in their first 90 days with us. Data is continuously analyzed to improve performance and accelerate growth.