{"id":24865,"date":"2020-02-25T12:51:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-25T11:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projectavs.aaronjaywolff.com\/?p=24865"},"modified":"2026-07-24T14:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T12:04:17","slug":"in-or-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/avs-advisors.com\/de\/thought-leadership\/in-or-out\/","title":{"rendered":"In or Out?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Appointing a new CEO is likely to be the single most important people decision that most Boards and owners will ever have to make. And the choice on whether to make an internal or external appointment is often a difficult, and sometimes a highly emotional, dilemma.<br>Below, we give some summary perspectives on the relative merits and considerations of internal vs. external candidates. We have deliberately not referenced the many published studies on this topic, but rather have drawn on our own observations from previous C-level succession projects.<br><strong><br>Internal Appointment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>+<\/strong>&nbsp;Conveys a sense \u2013 particularly internally \u2013 of stability\/continuity rather than disruption (i.e. \u2018evolution not revolution\u2019)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>+<\/strong>&nbsp;Sends a message that the company develops\/promotes from within, up to the top level<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>+<\/strong>&nbsp;Candidate is a well known commodity (i.e. you know exactly what you are getting)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>+<\/strong>&nbsp;Candidate already knows the organisation (therefore, no\/little risk in terms of cultural fit)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>+<\/strong>&nbsp;Candidate\u2019s learning curve is less steep (i.e. he\/she knows what they are getting into; can be mentored ahead of time by the current incumbent)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u2013<\/strong>&nbsp;Less likely to act as a change agent; more likely to bring incremental \u2013 rather than breakthrough game-changing \u2013 improvement<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u2013<\/strong>&nbsp;May be less likely to challenge and \u2018stand up to\u2019 the Board<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>External Appointment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>+<\/strong>&nbsp;Conveys a sense \u2013 particularly externally and to the markets \u2013 that the company is continually striving to out-perform and is not \u2018resisting on its laurels\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>+<\/strong>&nbsp;Sends a message that the company is committed to recruiting the best-in-class, global talent<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>+<\/strong>&nbsp;Candidate brings in new knowledge and best practices from other organisations<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>+<\/strong>&nbsp;Candidate will bring a fresh perspective, likely spotting both weaknesses and opportunities more readily<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u2013<\/strong>&nbsp;Steeper learning curve; candidate must learn about a new environment and adapt to the culture (a comprehensive onboarding &amp; integration programme is indispensible to mitigate the risk)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u2013<\/strong>&nbsp;Risk that internal candidate(s) become demotivated or leave<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thus there are pros and cons to both kinds of appointment. Appropriateness is situational: dependent on the current and future\/looked-for state of the company, and the type of mission (both the \u2018what\u2019 and the \u2018how\u2019) which the CEO must accomplish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">External appointments are, by definition, riskier\u2026 However, (successful) external appointees typically drive greater value over time\u2026 So, the risk with externals is higher, but so too is the potential upside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In conclusion, considering both internal and external options \u2013 objectively and rigorously \u2013 is best practice. And ultimately, the \u2018right answer\u2019 is the \u2018right candidate\u2019!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/avs-advisors.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/TTA_2015_02_In-or-out_DE.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Als PDF herunterladen<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Perspectives on internal and external CEO appointments<\/p>\n<p>von Nick Harris<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26304,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"tta-newsletter-edition-template","format":"standard","meta":{"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[79,22],"class_list":["post-24865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-thought-leadership","tag-nick-harris","tag-searchable"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>In or Out? 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