The New CEO

CHAPTER 1Why CEO Transitions Are So Hard

“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”

—Shakespeare, Henry IV

How can a role that is so visible, so carefully watched, studied, and written about, be one that is so hard to prepare for and get right?

Nobody goes into the CEO role with their eyes closed. You have likely been preparing for weeks, months, and possibly years. You talk to other CEOs, you read everything you can, you might find a mentor or coach. And when you head into the role, you're confident that you couldn't have done any more. Yet just a few hours or days later, you find out that nothing can actually quite prepare you for becoming a CEO.

The truth is that no CEO transition is without challenges. There's no singular reason for this. Typically, it boils down to a combination of the following factors.

Out of Your Comfort Zone

Ascending to the top job is a monumental transition. As Ramon Laguarta, CEO of PepsiCo, told me. “You think you know what it will be like, but you don't. It's a massive shift.”

The Spanish native has served as CEO of the soft-drinks giant since 2018, after more than 25 years working across the company's European and North American divisions. He'd seen every corner of PepsiCo, working through periods of stability as well as turnarounds and acquisitions, yet becoming CEO still presented new unknowns. “The experiences I had from growing up in PepsiCo were very helpful,” he reflected. “But when you become CEO, you find certain things are totally ...