#successionplanning

What is the true purpose of appointing an interim lead if the decision ultimately inflicts more damage than stability on an organization? While interim positions are theoretically designed to keep the ship steady during executive transitions, inserting an under-qualified placeholder into a highly specialized function often backfires. Instead of seamlessly bridging a gap, it frequently breeds confusion among staff, undermines trust in department leadership, and signals to the rest of the company that the role’s actual expertise is secondary. When a placeholder lacks the deep operational domain knowledge required to guide a team through ongoing budget cuts and structural shifts, it raises a fundamental question for anyone watching from the inside: do interim positions genuinely serve a strategic purpose, or do they inevitably cause more harm than good?

like every good worker bee I use Copilot to sp-t out slop to send up the chain reporting on what's going on. Well, when chatgpt digs deep it finds stuff like "contingency planning" and "succession planning"

SD will be out of OI around Q4/Q1. Expect a bloodbath of a re-org as all units under OI get badged as Optum.ai and every leadership line is chopped and reset under single verticals each for Payer, Provider and LS.

Name one candidate from outside the company that would even consider taking over after Stankey.
Who can shovel out 30 years of muck he created?
And create a successful strategy for the next 30?

Btw, no help will come from the Board.
Remember, they're all intermarried friends and family; they are just as complicit.
Which means internal successors are just more of the same.

So, who?

comment below. does your boss talk about department succession planning and their desire to be 2 levels above their current role? do they also talk about how much political capital they have above them and that they manipulate people? are they petty and talking about how bad they want someone else’s office? do they talk about how other leaders doing their jobs are threats? do they talk their way into every conversation even when they should not be in the room? do they insert themselves into every decision? do they treat the job like their passion project? do they seem unconfident and not able to do the job honestly?

my boss does.

why aren’t these people chosen for layoffs?

Who replaces MKW? Obvious choice right now is EB

Upstream CN? BK, RB?
CFO EB -> JG
Downstream AW?
Subsurface JK?
Wells JS?

Turnaround, Capital Projects, FE movements probably not from retirements as those guys are pretty young still

MN and ES roles probably just go away and save the company millions

Historical look how VZ management chaned, whatwere thesignals everyone missed.Using Verizon as a case study, there were several governance signals that, in hindsight, suggested the board was becoming more active before the October 6, 2025 CEO change. Here are the key items professional investors often watch:

1. Lead Independent Director gains prominence. Daniel Schulman was elected Lead Independent Director in December 2024, replacing Clarence Otis Jr. The lead independent director often becomes the board's principal counterweight to a combined Chairman/CEO. By itself this is not unusual, but it can indicate the board wants stronger oversight.
2. Board succession language. Read the proxy's Corporate Governance and Compensation sections for discussion of CEO succession planning. Boards rarely say a change is coming, but expanded discussion of succession planning can signal increased focus.
3. Executive compensation versus performance. Look for:declining customer growth,missed financial targets,reduced incentive payouts,
   changes in long-term performance metrics. When compensation committees alter incentive plans, they may be responding to business underperformance.
4. Sell-side conference messaging. In September 2025, Verizon executives continued presenting strategy to investors. If management's messaging remains optimistic while operating metrics continue deteriorating, boards sometimes conclude a different leadership approach is needed. This is more meaningful when combined with board actions rather than viewed alone.
5. Sudden leadership change. On October 4, 2025, Verizon's board immediately replaced Hans Vestberg with Daniel Schulman as CEO. Vestberg became Special Advisor, while Schulman moved directly from Lead Independent Director to CEO. The board later disclosed these changes in an 8-K.
   For Verizon specifically, one sequence that stands out in hindsight is:
   December 2024: Schulman becomes Lead Independent Director.
   2025: Continued competitive pressure and market-share concerns.
   October 2025: Schulman is elevated directly from Lead Independent Director to CEO, replacing Vestberg immediately.

The last few years of your career should be your best and most enjoyable as you are supposed to be in roles where you can mentor for succession planning to keep your investment in the company and stock prices continue to rise. XOM has now made those people a target to eliminate. I see senior technical people retiring and some surprisingly resigning before retirement eligibility in a company that is already stretched for talent and experience. Once they get rid of the NRE's which is evident in their plans, there won't be anyone to pass on the practical knowledge on to the next generation. But, do they care?

I met with a high level and well connected employee recently to try get some answers about my ultimate potential. This person works with D&S for my job family in succession planning. I was very honest about how I don’t see a future with ExxonMobil. The person tried hard to basically convince me that the pension is worth sticking it out for since I have put in two decades with the company already and am in my forties. The person then went on to describe how in the not too distant future there won’t be any employees at EMHC left other than those who are still needed to mentor the BTC. The person made statements like you are old enough and close enough to retirement that you can make it. My takeaway was the future for old people is to train India to take all the jobs. The future for young people is to be fired. I suggest young people wise up and leave before you are fired and that old people decide if this is the future you want to be a part of. I do not.

Seeing the Iraq pics on Campus, it looks like Dan Amman will become CEO soon (2026, maybe 2027 latest). His presence was definitely noticeable. And reading his background, he seems next for the CEO job.
Does that mean DW is done soon? With Dan’s financial background, he’ll want an industry leading CFO, not Neil, so maybe finance org will get some relief too. Change is coming!

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/4757276/Profile-Dan-Ammann

Did anyone else here this? The board was doing the same for Sampath before Dan sacked him.

This has been the worst handled succession plan by a Board since Jack Welch retired from GE. Now the only option left will be to no real up the company. Clover alone is worth the current market cap. Mike was never the right selection but the fact that that they couldn't retain him speaks to the ineptness of the current Chair and Board. Even the activist investor knew it was a weak Board.

I hope I am wrong but naming Takis immediately as the permanent ceo feels like a short sighted panic move. I am surprised they didn’t name him acting while the right long term leader could be found.

The company is shrinking and is younger people need the roles to open up to survive. The pension doesn’t grow that much after 55 and certainly after 60 it really slows down. Do us a favor and help us get to 55.

When I look around my team, it's mostly people near retirement. We do get some new faces, but they're usually gone within a year, either unable to fit in or unwilling to do the work. When the old guard finally leaves, there won't be anyone ready to step in. It's wild that there are almost no junior people learning the work.

Any guesses?

It is all over the news
https://www.fierce-network.com/wireless/verizon-ceo-succession-plan-flux-report
Can someone confirm?

Two big exits in two weeks. Honestly feels like things might finally be moving in the right direction. Really hoping the unannounced / undecided LSS interim is the one we’re all secretly pulling for. And that today's announced CTO interim doesn’t end up permanent. Who's the next one to go?

After over a decade in the position, Walmart Inc. CEO and President Doug McMillon will retire Jan. 31.

Current Walmart U.S. President and CEO John Furner has been elected by the board of directors to succeed McMillon effective Feb. 1, according to a Friday press release. Furner has also been elected to the board effective immediately and the company plans to announce his successor before the end of fiscal year 2026.

https://www.retaildive.com/news/walmart-ceo-doug-mcmillon-retires-john-furner-succeeds/805522/

Billy couldn't run the Lions. hand it over too your smarter sibling that edured the criticism and a chorus of boos then brought success to the families football team. Sheila should be CHAIRWOMAN of the board at Ford. Signed--- not BCG.

I look around and realize most of the team has been here for decades. No fresh talent, no mentoring, no future pipeline. It’s like leadership never thought ahead. What happens when everyone retires? We’re running on borrowed time.

Became close to many here in 15 years. Cannot stress this enough - The company you think you know IS planning your “winter.” Prepare. Please prepare. Putting in notice this week. And it does not matter how well you’re doing your job.

With telco moves recently, can see stank doing larger cuts and then T puts in new CEO q1. All this in effort to make it look like they’re listening.

Winter is coming.

Like AMD

How can a company as large as Kroger given Rodney's age and tenure not had a succession plan in place? Please go external and clean house in the executive ranks. Nobody internally is capable.

Since this Enterprise Reimagine was so bad, who will take responsibility? There are loads of complaint from field and survivors, who should take responsibility?

Also hearing that this is the master plan that Chubak wants Penny to do ER so that he can be managing partner faster. Nobody wants to wait 5 years to see Penny retire and then taking over.

I am sickened to my stomach to see this organization go backwards in all of the values they believe in + the momentum the firm had around new business/technology/products. We lost so many unicorns and institutional knowledge that we will never get back.