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Assess Your CEO’s Strategic Fit Over Time

Harvard Business Review

Retaining a leader whose profile no longer fits the strategic imperatives of the business can have disastrous business consequences. Two poignant examples: Steve Ballmer was a strong fit for Microsoft’s challenges when he was promoted to CEO in 2000. Ballmer effectively led this shift and saw strong revenue growth from it.

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How Microsoft Avoided the Peter Principle with Nadella

Harvard Business Review

In one of the most widely scrutinized CEO successions ever, Microsoft directors selected insider Satya Nadella to run the company, only their third CEO pick in the firm’s nearly 40-year history. Or consider managed-health care provider Humana’s decision in 2013 to recruit an outsider as its next chief executive.

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