Post by Glen Harrison

Succession Watch: PM Edition. Four boards, four very different reasons to move. Four leadership changes landed this week. Only one of them reads like a board moving on its own timeline. The rest are transition architecture in real time: interim control, a founder stepping back, and an entire C-suite redrawn. ▸ Verra Mobility put its Chief Transformation and Legal Officer, Jon Keyser, into the interim CEO seat as David Roberts exited the presidency, the CEO role, and the board after 12 years. This is the pressure case. The board is realigning cost structure, the search is open to inside and outside candidates, and the move is Assuming Responsibility at the top while the strategy gets reset. ▸ Rent The Runway is the cleaner story. Co-founder Jennifer Hyman handed the CEO role to board member and former Nordstrom merchant Teri Bariquit, then left the board entirely. A founder stepping back from strength, not distress, with a permanent search underway. ▸ Mastercard did not replace a leader. It redrew the org. Ling Hai moves into the CFO seat, Sachin Mehra takes a newly created Chief Business Officer role consolidating global go-to-market, and Linda Kirkpatrick becomes Chief Services Officer. This is Strategic Planning expressed as structure, built around services and new payment flows. ▸ Viridien completed a planned handoff. Henning Berg stepped up from COO to CEO today, the role he was hired into in March, while Sophie Zurquiyah stays on as non-executive Chair. The textbook version: a separated Chair and CEO, continuity by design. The board takeaway: a CEO exit and a leadership transition are not the same event. One is a vacancy. The other is a decision about how the company is run. This week gave us one of each, plus two in between. Follow for more. #SuccessionWatch #SuccessionPlanning #PeopleStrategy #LSPr