By Monica E. Oss, Chief Executive Officer, OPEN MINDS
The executive leadership talent question is a big one for every organization—for both the board and the executive team. There are two issues—the changing competencies needed for the executive team and the spike in executive team departures.
The issue of changing competencies is a function of the changing market. Increased competition, tight budgets, value-based care, and more are creating the need for executive team members with both an expanded knowledge base and new skills. In addition to more hard skills and soft skills to manage the organization and facilitate change, all executives need a broader understanding of the market and knowledge of available technology. And organizations need executives with the ability to reimagine new futures and relish the changes required to get there.
But beyond developing the knowledge and skills of the executive team, organizations are challenged by executive departures—both involuntary and for retirement or new opportunities. On the chief executive officer (CEO) front, 2025 CEO departures are at a record high, according to a new analysis, CEO Turnover Slows In May 2025; YTD Highest On Record. In fact, May 2025 CEO exits are 41% higher than the year previous. And within these national numbers, hospital systems have experienced the highest number of CEO changes of any industry.
Currently, CEO tenure has climbed to 12.7 years, the highest since 2017. And when it comes to replacing those CEOs, organizations are virtually split on bringing in an external hire (49.99%) versus internal candidates (50.01%).
But the replacement numbers showed a downturn in women in CEO roles. Women are replacing outgoing male CEOs 20% of the time in 2025, compared to 23% last year. In addition, women in new CEO roles dropped to 25%, compared to 29% a year earlier. In addition, 56% of the women who are leaving their roles are being replaced by men, compared to 48% during the same time period last year. The authors observed, “The gains women have made over the last decade, which remain far from equitable, are beginning to slip in the current political environment.”
We heard how one organization is addressing the executive talent issue during our recent executive roundtable, Ensuring Leadership Continuity—The Coleman Health Services Case Study. Coleman Health Services (CHS) CEO Hattie Tracy was joined by her outgoing Vice President of Clinical Operations and Chief Clinical Officer, Dawn Carter. They discussed how CHS is preparing for executive departures and transitions. This was an update on executive talent management practices from the session three years ago, when Ms. Tracy was a new CEO in Exit, Pursued By A Bear: A Lesson In Succession Planning.
Based in Kent, Ohio, CHS provides mental health, substance use, residential, and wraparound services. The $70.8 million organization operates in 58 Ohio counties with a staff of 850.
CHS faced seismic shifts to top leadership when three senior executives, including Ms. Carter, indicated plans to retire in the same time frame. In response, Ms. Tracy launched a multi-year succession planning effort to identify current and future leadership gaps.
As a first step, Ms. Tracy engaged in dialogue about retirement timelines, asking senior leaders to stagger their exits to give CHS time to train successors effectively. And she evaluated internal talent for leadership potential. That enabled her team to create a plan to balance internal promotions with external executive searches. “We started talking about whether we have the right people in the right positions,” said Ms. Tracy. In addition, the CHS team moved to a continuous process of planning for present and future executive leadership roles.
For other organizations looking at executive team retirements, Ms. Tracy and Ms. Carter provided three recommendations for building the succession capacity of their organizations: integrating succession planning into growth strategies, creating psychological safety for honest conversations, and treating internal talent development as a strategic priority.
To get the most out of any succession planning process, the speakers emphasized that the succession plan should reflect the requirements of an organization’s growth plan. In the case of CHS, proactively evaluating the leadership capacity of existing team members in terms of growth led to the creation of two senior positions—the chief operating officer and a vice president of housing services.
“Coleman has grown very quickly,” said Ms. Tracy. “Previously, we had growing pains, where we had a lot of growth and not enough people to share the burden. We looked at what positions we were missing within our senior leadership team, and when we should bring those positions on.”
The speakers also emphasized that effective succession planning requires honesty—about timelines, talent gaps, and personal goals of executive team members. For best results, CEOs need to create a leadership culture where those conversations can happen openly. This allows for longer-term planning about staggered retirements and internal versus external candidates.