Henna Inam

When it comes to succession planning, boards have recently been engaging in three particularly problematic behaviors. My colleagues Claudius A. Hildebrand, Kate Hurley, and Giovanna Gallì discuss why the “safe” approach to succession is counterproductive, and offer guidance on how boards can transform CEO selection into a moment of strategic advantage in Harvard Business Review: https://lnkd.in/gqR36sSV #CEOSuccession #Boards #SpencerStuartSiliconValley&Austin

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Just attended Hogan Assessments webinar "Accelerate Growth in Private Equity with Smarter Talent Strategies" – and it was packed with insight. Key takeaway? Talent has become the critical lever in value creation for PE-backed businesses. A deliberate talent strategy will move the needle on exit. Back in 2000, over 70% of PE value creation came from financial engineering. Today? That number is closer to 25%. The rest comes from operational improvement – and increasingly, from getting leadership and people strategy right. Great session. Timely reminders for PE leaders: value creation starts – and ends – with people. #PrivateEquity #ValueCreation #LeadershipStrategy #TalentStrategy #ExecutiveSearch #PortfolioGrowth

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Few board responsibilities are as critical (or as varied) as CEO succession planning—yet there’s no universal blueprint for how best to approach it. Our 2025 Board Culture and Director Behaviors Study shows that boards take very different approaches: some manage succession at the full-board level, others rely on special committees or informal groups, and leadership of these efforts can fall to independent board leaders or committee chairs. In my experience advising clients, I’ve learned there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but rather key ingredients: a thoughtful timeline, rigorous candidate evaluation, and active director engagement. These are what truly set boards up for resilient leadership transitions. How has your board approached CEO succession planning, and what’s worked best for you? If you’d like deeper insights into how boards organize for succession planning, explore our latest article: https://bit.ly/48j3eIW

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Learning, Leading, and Elevating Executive Talent I recently had the privilege of joining SHRM’s #HonestHR Podcast, hosted by the insightful Nicole Belyna, SHRM-SCP. We explored a topic that is deeply close to my heart: executive recruiting and leadership development. During our conversation, I shared my belief that executive recruiting is fundamentally different from other levels of hiring — it’s not only about finding someone with the right experience on paper but about identifying a leader who can shape the organization’s direction, strengthen culture, and inspire people to achieve their best. We also discussed how critical it is for HR to take an active leadership role in the executive search process. While I deeply value the expertise that external executive search partners bring, I emphasized that HR should serve as the primary steward of the relationship between the organization and the search professional. By doing so, HR ensures alignment with strategic goals and maintains the authenticity of the employer brand throughout the process. Another key topic we covered was how HR leaders in small or lean teams can still have a powerful impact in executive recruiting. Even without large resources, HR can assert their influence by staying deeply connected to organizational needs, fostering strong relationships with key stakeholders, and embedding themselves in the process as strategic advisors rather than just facilitators. Finally, we touched on the importance of supporting leaders after they are hired — executive recruiting doesn’t end when the offer is signed. It’s the beginning of a journey to help new leaders integrate successfully and make a lasting impact. I’m grateful to SHRM, the SHRM Digital Production team and Nicole for the opportunity to share these insights and for hosting such a thoughtful discussion. If you’re interested in thinking more strategically about executive recruiting and how HR can lead with impact, I encourage you to listen to this episode. Thank you again to SHRM and Nicole for having me. (and boy, I don't know why I am blinking so much at the beginning of this video... maybe I was overwhelmed with the outstanding facilitation and interview skills of Nicole?) ------ https://lnkd.in/gtWiyuag #ExecutiveRecruiting #LeadershipDevelopment #TalentAcquisition #SHRM #HonestHR #HumanResources #StrategicHR

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At Harvard Business Impact’s 2025 Partners’ Meeting, Prof. Amy C. Edmondson of Harvard Business School, delivered an energizing keynote on psychological safety. In this recap by Michelle Bonterre, Senior Director of Global Marketing & Insights at Harvard Business Impact, explores the key insights from Amy’s keynote and learn how today’s leaders can foster cultures where people feel safe to take risks, voice ideas, and learn from mistakes. 🔗 Read more: https://s.hbr.org/45b4eLM

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#StrategicThursday WHAT IS THE BIG FIVE OF STRATEGY - AND WHY DOES IT MATTER? After eight weeks of exploration, reflection, and practice, our Big Five of Strategy journey is moving toward certification. Many have asked: What exactly is this model – and why is it so powerful for leaders and coaches? Developed by Dr. Timothy Tiryaki and Dr. Jeroen Kraaijenbrink, the Big Five of Strategy redefines how individuals and organizations think, act, and grow strategically. Instead of a top-down planning model, it focuses on strategic competencies that can be learned and developed by anyone — not just executives. 🌟 The Five Strategic Competencies 1️⃣ Grasp the Present – Understand complexity and make sense of your current environment. 2️⃣ Shape the Future – Design vision and direction with purpose and foresight. 3️⃣ Deliver the Results – Execute, adapt, and follow through under real-world constraints. 4️⃣ Move the System – Translate ideas into coordinated action and momentum across teams and systems. 5️⃣ Adapt to Change – Learn, evolve, and respond effectively to change and uncertainty. These competencies are backed by research and applied through a science-based self-assessment that helps identify strengths and areas for growth in both strategic thinking and execution. For me as a coach, this framework offers a practical and human way to help leaders and teams 👉 see their strategic reality more clearly, 👉 focus on what truly matters, and 👉 create movement that lasts. As we now prepare for certification, I look forward to integrating the Big Five of Strategy into my own coaching practice — and exploring how it can help organizations navigate complexity with clarity and purpose. Are you interested in talking more about this? Just give me a call at +358 50 514 1954 or send me an email at kaj@positivegroup.fi — I’d love to continue the conversation. #StrategicThursday #BigFiveofStrategy #StrategicCoaching #LeadershipDevelopment #OrganizationalCoaching #PositiveGroup Jeroen Kraaijenbrink Timothy Timur Tiryaki, PhD Markus Ikonen Göran Hernberg Hedy Kapri Marianne Borg Hyökki ScD Tuula Nurmiluoto Kim Hellbom

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Yesterday's session at #NACD Summit on "Board Succession Planning: Strategies, Frameworks, and Readiness Gaps" surfaced uncomfortable truths about why boards struggle with transition planning. The core issue? Professional identity. It's hard for accomplished directors to talk about stepping down, so most boards wait too long. The solution: build infrastructure that makes succession planning routine rather than personal. Key frameworks that work: Structural guardrails - Age limits (typically around 72) and term limits take emotion out of the equation. Worth noting: in the EU, board members lose independence designation after 9 years. Strategic flexibility - Most effective boards don't fill every open seat. They preserve spots to respond to industry disruption or evolving skill gaps. Overlapping terms during transitions help maintain institutional knowledge. The reality check - 89% of CEOs want at least one director to leave. Only 1/3 rate their boards as good or better. Industry disruption often demands different expertise, even when current directors are highly capable. On advisory boards - Most are poorly defined and ultimately a waste of time. When done well, advisory boards have crystal-clear purpose and proper staffing support. They can fill gaps in the board matrix - but are not recommended as board "tryouts". Some organizations structure 2-year advisory stints with explicit understanding they won't lead to board seats. The takeaway: succession planning isn't about managing out underperformers. It's about proactively ensuring the board has the right skills for where the organization is heading, not where it's been. Grateful to NACD (National Association of Corporate Directors) and panelists for this candid discussion on a topic most boards handle poorly. #BoardLeadership #CorporateGovernance #BoardDevelopment #Succession #NorthernCaliforniaNACD

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Like other C Suite Executives, the role of CHRO needs to have high partnership with the CEO, the Board and peers. This article from the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance does a nice job looking at the evolution of the CHRO role. In our retained CHRO searches, Gig Talent is seeing more and more companies requiring experience for their HR Leader in being the liaison to the BOD on compensation, culture, and human capital. Check out the link in comments.

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In the realm of governance, strategic board transitions go beyond mere formalities. Our CEO, Andrew Chastain, alongside Laura Orr and Susan M. Snyder (she/her), explore essential phases of board member transitions in an article featured in the June 2025 issue of The Governance Institute's BoardRoom Press. Examining aspects like emotional challenges and onboarding missteps, this piece is essential for those involved in developing board structure amid rapid changes. https://lnkd.in/gN7bEuwz #BoardGovernance #ImpactfulLeadership #TGIBoardRoomPress

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"Why aren't there more HR executives on boards?" A question that was discussed at an event I attended recently. It is one I have thought about for a few years, after completing a board certification course and looking around at my cohort and other alumni. Lorri Lowe's recent article states "Almost every major board crisis of the decade has started with people." https://lnkd.in/gqy7RzqY Talent remains as a top challenge in many board studies, according to PwC. https://lnkd.in/g_Nj_sTf Heidrick & Struggles's points out that boards with HR expertise do better. https://lnkd.in/grFcvSJT The absence of HR executives in the boardroom is more than an oversight; it is a strategic risk. It’s time for nominating committees to look beyond the traditional financial and operational profiles and recognize that human capital is the ultimate capital. As board-ready HR leaders, we should continue to articulate our value and champion the future people agenda. Having resilient, high-performing organizations depends on it. Lockington People & Advisory

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I coach very senior leaders. At that level, performance alone rarely determines outcomes. Board dynamics, investor sentiment, CEO transitions, and powerful stakeholder relationships all shape tenure. And the truth is: even extraordinary leaders can find themselves suddenly “out.” Sometimes with little warning. What continues to strike me is how differently many men and women process that moment. In my experience (and supported by research on attribution and confidence patterns): Many men tend to externalize the event: → The board shifted → The strategy changed → The timing wasn’t right Many women tend to internalize it: → What did I miss? → What should I have done differently? → Was I actually as good as they thought? This isn’t about capability or resilience.  It’s about socialization, narrative conditioning, and how success and failure are coded differently across gender over time. And here’s the part we don’t talk about enough. Job loss at senior levels is not just professional. It can trigger identity disruption, loss of community, loss of structure, and a very real grief cycle: shock, confusion, anger, meaning-making, rebuilding. Recently, a client shared a book she is working through: All the Cool Girls Get Fired by Laura Brown and Kristina O’Neill. What I appreciate about it is that it doesn’t sugarcoat the experience. It acknowledges the shock. The disorientation. The “who am I if I’m not this role?” moment. And, importantly, it offers practical ways to move forward and rebuild from a place of strength. Because here is what I know from watching leaders move through this moment: The leaders who ultimately come out stronger are not the ones who avoid disruption. They are the ones who use it. They get clearer about: • The environments where they actually thrive • The leadership problems they are uniquely wired to solve • The compromises they are no longer willing to make Losing a role can feel like a verdict. More often, it is a forcing function. And if you are in that moment right now: You are not the only one. You are not “done.” And this is very often the beginning of the most aligned chapter of your career.

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