A CEO successfully stabilises a company.
Costs down. Structures simplified. Decisions accelerated. Performance stabilised.
The turnaround succeeds.
And then?
Then the task often changes fundamentally.
Suddenly it is about growth again. Investment. New markets. New capabilities. Perhaps internationalisation or building a new business model.
But is the CEO who led the company successfully through the turnaround automatically the right person for this next phase?
After more than 20 years in executive search, I would say:
This question is often asked too late.
Not because the current CEO was unsuccessful, that is precisely what makes the discussion so difficult.
But success always comes about in the context of a particular business situation.
A turnaround often calls for focus, consistency, speed and the ability to reduce complexity.
Growth can call for something else: spotting opportunities, investing, developing new lines of business, building talent and giving an organisation more entrepreneurial room again.
Of course a CEO can do both.
But past success alone does not answer the question of whether the leadership also fits the company’s next phase.
That is why, when appointing or assessing a CEO, I would not stop at the track record.
What interests me most is this:
What does this business need to achieve next, and what kind of leadership does it take to do exactly that?
Why do even the best turnaround CEOs so often struggle with how the market sees them?
It is rarely about their numbers. Anyone who has run a P&L of €500m+, delivered 5 to 10 % in
October 13, 2026
