Executive Advisory

Supporting a Board through CEO Succession

The Challenge

As a premier healthcare institution at the forefront of medical innovation and patient care, our client knew that having the right leader at the helm was one of the most significant differentiators for the organization to date. When the decision was made to identify a successor, the Board wanted confidence and conviction in their choice - above and beyond the support from their search partner.

“Our mission requires a level of leadership that can think beyond today and envision what is possible in the healthcare sector in the future.”

The idealis Approach

‍

Idealis partnered with the Board, CEO and CHRO to establish a baseline understanding of the role of the CEO in the context they will be leading within. Using our proprietary Real to Ideal Blueprint, we worked withkey Board members to understand the business priorities, culture and leadership capabilities required to move the organization to the next level of performance. For each CEO candidate, we leveraged our proprietary Human Core Assessment, paired with a conversation to learn their Story from their own experiences, and the experience of their references. ‍

‍

The Transformation
‍

With an aligned set of expectations for the new CEO, idealis worked with the Board to assess candidates and offer deep and nuanced perspective on each leader, supporting the Board Chair, CEO, CHRO and Committee as they made a final decision to appoint a new CEO with confidence.

‍

Real to Ideal blueprint outlining clear expectations that the CEO would be accountable for

Identification of key cultural and leadership attributes that would accelerate (or derail) the CEO’s integration and success

Candidate summaries reflecting the story and life/career trajectory of each individual candidate, backed by data from the Human Core psychometric assessment

Guidance on how to best influence and support the new CEO based on their unique profile and motivations

Recommendations for key areas of focus to support rapid integration and accelerated impact

Coaching & integration support to outline a transition plan to smooth the leadership shift from the former CEO to the new CEO

The Results

Following idealis’ succession planning process, the organization successfully hired a new leader to succeed the current CEO, leading to:

Confidence and alignment from the Board on the decision to hire and need to support

Clear plan for integration with mile markers related to transitioning into the role

A future CEO who is on a path for success given the support from the process

An executive leadership team that is positioned to grow with a new leader at the helm

An organization poised to grow and thrive through a leadership transition

"Hearing the idealis team describe a candidate’s story gave me a perspective that I didn’t have about someone that I met several times. It made me understand the candidates differently."

– [Board Member, Healthcare Institution]