Who shall sit on the throne of management is a matter of concern for a majority of the corporates in the 21st century. Many companies have shown little or no progress in planning CEO succession - a vital concern. With the issues on hand eating up most of the time in board meetings, succession planningwhich appears to be a concern still on the distant horizonoften gets pushed to the side. On the other hand, CEOs are more concerned with job security and leave an organization as soon as a good opportunity comes up. Therefore, the challenge that is now faced is to build a talent-rich company.

Is succession planning just about selecting a talented executive with a great track record? No. It is about identifying a potential candidate who can fit himself with the company's strategy and compliment the management team with his unique skills and experience.

The CEO turnover rate during the past few years has hit warp speed. Some of the CEOs do not even complete a predefined quarter. As against it, CEOs like Jack Welch have surpassed 20 year reign at GE. High CEO turnover can be due to a number of factors such as dynamic economic conditions, increasingly vocal and impatient investors, intense inspection of company performance and governance as well as higher standards for CEO worth. It happens because companies fail to properly plan and manage CEO successions.

The critical role of the CEO has remained unnoticed. As a controller, no position within a company is more important. The CEO is the most important hire a company can make because of the responsibility he undertakes to determine the sense, culture, strategy and leadership as well as to develop and articulate the company's vision. When the search of a right CEO at the right time is over, the results can be simply magical. However, when the command over the top lies with a wrong person, it can lead to severe - even overwhelming cost for a company.

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