Oct 15, 2026 · 15 min · 9 segments
Nobody tells you that the job you were promoted for is not the job you now have. You earned the corner office because you were excellent at something. Finance, operations, commercial, product. That…
Andrea PetroneHost
And by the way, this episode was really sparked by a body of research from psychologists who study CEO transitions.
As you know, that is a matter important to me for the work I do, and you know, it's, uh, especially for those CEOs and leaders, you know, they are beginning of their journey.
So the psychologists describe the move into the CEO role as one of the, one of the most psychologically disruptive events in executive's career.
That really resonates with me, and happened to me many, many years ago, and also happens to the, the people I work with.
And the data backs that up, 'cause up to half of the new CEOs really struggle or fail within the first 18 months.
That's a really staggering data, isn't it? And the vast majority later say they would manage a transition, you guess what? Differently.
So when I read that research, I didn't just recognize it, and really I felt it, because I've sat across from these leaders.
I watched this pattern fold in real time, and I've helped CEOs navigate their way through it, so I know how critical it is.
So today, I want to really share what research says, what I've personally observed, and most importantly, what actually really works.
So let's start with the researchers have a term for the most common failure mechanism in CEO transitions.
So, and when I first came across that phrase, immediately put language to something I've been watching for years, and also my book will talked about, you know, The Identity Gap.
So in the research, identity foreclosure is what happens when the new CEO retreats into the expert identity that earned them the promotion, for example, rather than embracing the broader integrative demands of the role.
So in plain language, you keep doing the job that got you here instead of doing the job that you're in now.
By the way, that doesn't only happen to the CEOs, but it's critical in the context of the conversation we're having.
And by the way, this episode was really sparked by a body of research from psychologists who study CEO transitions.
As you know, that is a matter important to me for the work I do, and you know, it's, uh, especially for those CEOs and leaders, you know, they are beginning of their journey.
So the psychologists describe the move into the CEO role as one of the, one of the most psychologically disruptive events in executive's career.
That really resonates with me, and happened to me many, many years ago, and also happens to the, the people I work with.
And the data backs that up, 'cause up to half of the new CEOs really struggle or fail within the first 18 months.
That's a really staggering data, isn't it? And the vast majority later say they would manage a transition, you guess what? Differently.
So when I read that research, I didn't just recognize it, and really I felt it, because I've sat across from these leaders.
I watched this pattern fold in real time, and I've helped CEOs navigate their way through it, so I know how critical it is.
So today, I want to really share what research says, what I've personally observed, and most importantly, what actually really works.
So let's start with the researchers have a term for the most common failure mechanism in CEO transitions.
So, and when I first came across that phrase, immediately put language to something I've been watching for years, and also my book will talked about, you know, The Identity Gap.
So in the research, identity foreclosure is what happens when the new CEO retreats into the expert identity that earned them the promotion, for example, rather than embracing the broader integrative demands of the role.
So in plain language, you keep doing the job that got you here instead of doing the job that you're in now.
By the way, that doesn't only happen to the CEOs, but it's critical in the context of the conversation we're having.
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