Senior Client Partner, Global DE&I and ESG Strategist
Leadership
How to Make the CEO Stay
With the CEO exodus continuing, what can boards do to get ahead of the issue?
March 31, 2025
4 Ways to Make the CEO Stay
Private discussions between the CEO and board chair were underway. The CEO felt she could no longer perform her duties at the required level. It had all become too much—the “always on” mentality, the disagreements with the board over strategy, the fact that she hadn’t taken a real vacation in more than five years. The only problem: The company was performing so well that the board wasn’t ready to press “go” on succession plans.
It’s a conundrum that boards are quietly facing a lot more these days, as the Great CEO Exodus continues. Last year, more than 2,000 CEOs left the job, a 16% increase from 2023. At the beginning of 2025, a new record for January departures was set, leaving a lot of boards in the lurch.
You don’t want to be in a position where you have to really convince a CEO to stay,” says Jane Edison Stevenson, global vice chair of the Board and CEO Services practice and global leader of the Board and CEO Succession practice at Korn Ferry. “If you’re at that point, something hasn’t gone well.
To be sure, about 40% of CEOs who left last year were pushed out; roughly 20% departed in the course of a planned succession process. But the remaining exits appear to have left boards blindsided. “If the departure is sudden, or if the CEO leaves to take another role, the board often finds itself really stuck,” says Joe Griesedieck, vice chairman and managing director in Korn Ferry’s Board and CEO Services practice. “You don’t want to be in a situation where a board member has to step up, even if only on an interim basis.”
While no board wants to have to beg a CEO to stay, there are steps directors can take to head off such a scenario. Of course, the oldest trick in the book is offering up more attractive financial packages to ensure longer leadership. Earlier this year, several investment banks made headlines for awarding stock or retention bonuses to ensure their chiefs remained at the helm for several more years.
Beyond pay, boards can use several maneuvers to help retain CEOs. Perhaps most important these days is maintaining open communication and support between the CEO and the board chair or independent director. “They should be talking all the time,” Griesedieck says. “There should be a high level of trust in that relationship, so that if a CEO is feeling burned out or considering stepping down, it doesn’t come as a surprise.”
It’s also helpful to ensure CEOs have a way to engage with their peers. “It’s lonely at the top,” says Andrés Tapia, senior client partner and global diversity and inclusion strategist at Korn Ferry. Indeed, in a recent survey of CEOs, 61% said they always or often feel lonely. Being able to share experiences and gain insights from other top executives can provide emotional support and practical advice to help mitigate that feeling.
And while it’s easy to forget, even top executives need professional development. Understanding a CEO’s personal goals—whether it’s to help mentor the next generation of leaders or do more networking on the ski slopes—can be a powerful way to help retain them and mitigate the day-to-day slog of putting out fires. “Boards forget that CEOs need to be developed, not just paid well,” says Kate Shattuck, a Korn Ferry managing partner.
Regardless of what path a board takes, perception is key, Stevenson says. “If there’s a lot of back-and-forth as to whether a CEO is going to stay or go, the perception could be that he or she was fired—even if that’s not the reality.”
To read more about the pressures CEOs face, read our Briefings feature on The Breaking Point.
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