This newsletter shares insights from executive coaching, successful organizations and impactful leadership. Every week, you will receive a new email that is jam-packed with leadership insights, strategies and actionable steps for senior leaders and aspiring ones. Thank you for being a part of my journey, and I look forward to sharing my most valuable content with you!

That is how many new CEOs walked into S&P Global 1500 companies in 2025. The highest level of CEO turnover since 2010 🪑

If 2025 felt like a game of musical chairs at the top — it was
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​Spencer Stuart's 2025 transitions report landed, & 3 numbers stand out:
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1️⃣ 84% of newly appointed CEOs in 2025 were 1st time enterprise CEOs

2️⃣ Of those 140 1st timers, 116 had NO prior enterprise CEO experience. 2/3 had never served on a public board

3️⃣ Average CEO tenure at departure fell to 8.5 years — from 9.2 in 2024 & a 10.3-year peak in 2021
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Shorter tenures. More first-timers. Less experience around the CEO. This is the riskiest CEO transition environment most of us have ever worked in ⚠️
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And here is the paradox: Spencer Stuart's own research shows talented 1st timers deliver HIGHER long-term performance than re-run CEOs. So the shift to 1st timers is not inherently wrong
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But only if the board stops behaving like selecting them is the end of the job.

Because the other data is chilling:
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→ Nearly 40% of S&P 1500 CEOs left within 5 years. For the S&P 500, 45%
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→ 2 years ago, 42% of new CEOs had a newly appointed Executive Chair alongside them. In 2025, that collapsed to about 25%.
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→ 19 new CEOs came from the company's own board — the most since 2020 — which Spencer Stuart flags as a signal that boards "are not ready for succession"

Directors stepping into the CEO seat is NOT a sign of bench strength. It is often the opposite
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Only 9% of newly appointed S&P 1500 CEOs in 2025 are women — down from 15% in 2024. In industrials, it went from 22% to 5% in a single year. Not a drift, but a huge cliff 📉
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In my work coaching CEOs & boards, 3 patterns separate the 2025 cohort who will thrive from the 45% who will not make it to year 5:
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1: Treat selection as 20% of the job. The other 80% is the Year 1 transition support architecture. Most boards flip the ratio
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2: Protect the Year 3 reinvention window. Year 3 is where high & low performers diverge. That is also when boards disengage

3: Stop confusing "new CEO" with "new leadership team." 84% 1st timers means 84% of your leadership team also need transition support

❓ One question for every Board Chair reading this: when your CEO hits Day 1, is your board transitioning from selection mode to support mode — or quietly celebrating 🎉 a hire well made?

But don't take my word for it, take it from a CEO client of mine:

“Navid is an asset for any transitioning executive. He is an expert on executive transitions & shares valuable, and research-based insights & tips from his book. His coaching has helped me to maximise the effectiveness of onboarding activities with clear prioritisation. It has also helped me to operate in a dynamic context & sustain high energy levels throughout. Transitioning is never easy but having Navid’s support has improved the likelihood of success & helped me to establish realistic expectations for the journey”

#CEOTransition#SpencerStuart#MasteringExecutiveTransitions​
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About Navid Nazemian
​Ranked as the world’s #1 Executive Coach by CEO Today for the third year running, I partner with senior leaders to navigate complexity, accelerate performance, and lead through critical transitions. Over the past two decades, I’ve supported hundreds of executives in overcoming unproductive thinking and solving their most complex leadership challenges—helping their organizations build world-class cultures and create lasting value.
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If you’d like to reflect on a leadership challenge, an upcoming transition, or how I might support you, you’re very welcome to reply directly to this email.​
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​You can also:

1. ​Connect with me on LinkedIn for additional leadership insights
2. Explore my international best-selling book ‚Mastering Executive Transitions: The Definitive Guide‘ described by Dr. Marshall Goldsmith as “THE ultimate guide to executive transitions to help leaders achieve their highest potential”
3. Leave a review for my book here​

What's Next? More insights on leadership, transitions, and executive effectiveness are coming your way next week. I’d genuinely value your perspective—feel free to share your reflections by replying to this email. I read every response.

Navid

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