How to Groom The Next Boss

摘要

Of all the challenges confronting managers and directors, few are as difficult or as critical as finding and training a chief executive-in-wait-ing. At Coca-Cola, Xerox, and Procter & Gamble, CEO successions have been marked by long searches, poor choices, or fumbled transitions. But a company with a well-prepared No. 2 can quell uncertainty, even in the worst emergencies. When McDonald's Corp. CEO James Cantalupo died of a heart attack on Apr. 19, the board named Chief Operating Officer Charles H. Bell to his post within hours. Kenneth W. Freeman, CEO of Quest Diagnostics Inc., was determined not to leave his company in the lurch. He started grooming his handpicked successor five years ago. When he transfers management of the $4.7 billion medical-testing company to Surya N. Mohapatra at the May 4 annual meeting, it will be the culmination of a meticulous succession process that experts say is a case study in how to choose a future CEO and prepare him for the job. Marc S. Effron, global practice leader for consultants Hewitt Associates Inc., says the careful succession planning at the Teterboro (N.J.)-based company will pay off with a new CEO who can hit the ground running. "It's incredibly unusual," says Effron of Freeman's efforts. "They're going to see the benefits."