Your CEO is going to get fired soon

How to react if it happens at your company

👋 Hi, it’s Greg and Taylor. Welcome to our newsletter on everything you wish your CEO told you about how to get ahead.

A lot of CEOs are going to be fired in the next couple of years, especially in tech-enabled companies.

The vice is tightening: The enduring hangover from the pandemic, an uncertain economy rocked by the chaos monkeys in Washington, and the relentless march of AI will catch a lot of CEOs and management teams flat-footed. Some CEOs will move too slowly, so new leadership will be brought in.

In a startup or smaller company, it’s easy to freak out when the CEO gets fired. You can waste a lot of time panicking – or worse, talking shit behind closed doors about what a mistake the board has made.

Don’t do that. Resistance is futile and is the fastest way to get on the new CEO’s “maybe” list.

The best thing you can do when your CEO gets fired is buy yourself time … so you can assess the new regime and strategy and make an informed decision about what to do next.

Here’s how to do it.

– Greg

Why CEOs get fired

CEOs get fired when the board sees a delta between “how valuable the company is going to be with the current CEO” and “how valuable the company could be with a new CEO.”

It rarely means the CEO was totally incompetent – more likely, it means they lacked a specific set of skills to help the company realize its future reality/potential.

There are four common situations:

1. The board wants to sell the company, and the current CEO has no interest or aptitude, so they’re bringing someone in to manage the process.

2. The board wants to make the company more capital-efficient, so they’re bringing in a cost-cutting expert to do an operational turnaround.

3. The board wants to pivot the business in a new direction, and the current CEO has run out of ideas or energy.

4. The board wants to scale. The company strategy is good, but things are starting to get a little rough around the edges. This is usually why you see founders replaced with “professional CEOs.”

(A fifth situation is that the CEO was caught doing something they shouldn’t. Not as common as you’d think – maybe 10% of CEOs get fired for this.)

Early signals of what’s going on

If your CEO gets fired, the first thing you should do is try to figure out the cause. This doesn’t mean “gossip with your coworkers” – it means pay attention and observe.

Here are a few clues and what they generally indicate:

Knowing the reason helps you understand the type of people that the new CEO will start to rely on. To succeed, you need to get on board with the focus of the new team (innovation, cost-cutting, strategy shift, etc.).

The unwritten rules of a CEO transition

Here’s what no one will tell you about a new CEO:

1. A reset is coming. CEOs have big egos, so they’re going to put their mark on the company in many ways, some of which will be sudden. Expect changes, some obvious and some subtle, to operating norms, reporting formats, meeting etiquette, cultural values, and more. Don’t be surprised every time; just expect it.

2. Relationship capital resets to zero. People who are used to having the CEO’s ear will have to re-earn their position. You should assume the new CEO has no knowledge of you, and act accordingly.

3. Listening is valued over speaking. In early interactions, employees who show curiosity, openness, and adaptability will be favored over those who cling to the past or exhibit the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mindset.

4. Beware the “everything’s fine” trap. The board and leadership team will downplay disruption to prevent panic. Everything is not fine, so pay attention and understand what they want to fix.

5. Don’t get defensive. Or point fingers. Own your decisions and the thinking behind them if questioned by new leadership. Explain clearly what you did and why – and offer an accurate assessment on whether it worked. And then show an open mind to a new POV or direction.

Get on board (or at least pretend to)

For the first few months, act like you’re 100% all-in – even if you’re not yet.

Don’t waste time playing Monday morning quarterback. Buy yourself some time to assess – and impress.

There's a predictable sorting that happens in the month following a CEO or leadership change. Some employees adapt quickly, others remain in denial, and some actively resist. This initial period is extremely revealing to new leadership about who can be part of the future vision.

Watch for:

• How quickly people pivot from questioning the change to focusing on implementation

• Who steps up to help with transition versus who becomes entrenched in "how we used to do things"

• The emergence of informal leaders who help translate the new direction to teams

• Who gets early face time with new leadership versus who gets postponed or relegated

My advice

I’ve been guilty in my career of judging a new leader or a new strategy too quickly. It got me fired from Apple a lifetime ago – and that was a job I could not afford to lose at the time (both financially and work Visa-wise).

I’ve learned the hard way that the best thing you can do is be open-minded and get on the team right away. Act with conviction to the new strategy and preserve optionality for yourself.

If you delay judgment, you might find that you really like the change in leadership (after all, CEOs don’t get fired for being perfect leaders). Or you’ll realize it’s not for you – but you’ll have given yourself a fair shot to make the decision.

Have a great week,
Greg