The Best CEOs End Their Tenure with a Smile, Not With the Blues

In his guest column for Forbes, BCG’s Grant Freeland talks about how leadership matters and the right—or wrong—CEO can make all the difference. Freeland says that a new CEO is no guarantee of anything, some succeed and some disappoint. BCG’s Roselinde Torres agrees, commenting that CEO “success rates apply regardless of the company’s performance at the time of the original handover… it’s what you say and do after you’re given the key that counts.” Freeland also references a An Algorithm for a Successful 21st-Century CEO that found that successful CEOs  had a clear vision of where they wanted their company to go and how to get their company there; they all made strategic moves at a pace and in a sequence that challenged the organization, but didn’t create chaos; they understood the importance of selling their story to everyone who mattered; and they rallied both the leadership team and the rank and file, making them partners in the effort.