8 tips to thrive during CEO transitions

Navigating a CEO transition is tricky. It raises questions about your company’s stability, relevance and culture that employees will reckon with internally, and sometimes externally when they don’t feel heard. It also gives the leaders who remain a chance to reset and redefine the tone to align priorities and secure trust.

Your communication and messages sit at the heart of this process, helping the organization build a bridge between past legacy and future vision.

During Ragan’s Internal Communications Conference at Microsoft HQ in Seattle last month, Sabrina Steele, executive director of communications and corporate affairs at Aerospace Corporation, shared what she learned navigating a CEO transition at a company where the stakes are literally sky-high.

The CEO transition at Aerospace marked a critical inflection point for the organization. After Wanda Austin, who stabilized the company after a period of challenges, stepped down in 2016, the role was filled by Steven Isakowitz.

This required a change comms strategy fortified with clarity, strategy and adaptability.

Here’s what she learned.

On managing CEO transitions.