Leadership teams constantly evolve, but the pace of change since early 2020 has been faster than ever. The challenges and opportunities shaping business during this period have created an environment of increased uncertainty, as more stakeholders are demanding their voices be heard and more is at risk for corporate leaders. To explore how leadership teams have changed in that context, Heidrick & Struggles looked at the roles reporting to Fortune 100 CEOs as well as the backgrounds and experiences of the people in those roles, in February 2020 and again in November 2022. 

Our first notable finding was that 78% of the CEOs of current Fortune 100 companies were promoted internally, a trend we have seen increase in our Route to the Top study since 2017.¹If this pattern of internal promotion continues, many future CEOs are likely already part of their current leadership teams. Furthermore, between 2020 and 2022, we saw an increase in the share of Fortune 100 CEOs who were first-time CEOs as well as those who had more diversified backgrounds than CEOs appointed earlier, particularly in areas of previous C-suite experience, highlighting that boards are broadening their understanding of what experience qualifies candidates for the CEO role. 

A second notable finding was a significant increase in the size of Fortune 100 executive teams since February 2020. This increase in team size is proving an excellent opportunity for companies to strengthen their leadership pipeline and may also deepen the succession pools for both CEO and board roles.²

The increasing size and scope of leadership teams is also reinforcing the importance of senior leaders—meaning that boards must focus on retaining promising leaders at all levels through strategic, transparent executive succession planning and career development.

Key findings

• Many future CEOs are likely already part of their current leadership teams: 78% of the CEOs of current Fortune 100 companies were promoted internally.
• There was a 48% increase in the number of executives on Fortune 100 leadership teams between February 2020 and November 2022, from 1,006 to 1,489. 
• This translated to an increase in the average size of the leadership team, from 10 to 15 people.
• This increase in team size is proving an excellent opportunity for companies to strengthen their leadership pipeline and may also deepen the succession pools for both CEO and board roles.
• Of the 91 companies that were in the Fortune 100 in both 2020 and 2022, 69% added new roles to their leadership teams, 20% kept the same size leadership team, and 11% eliminated roles. Although the overall number of roles increased notably, the relative shares of P&L roles and functional roles stayed about the same.
• Forty percent of the executives on the 2020 leadership teams are no longer in their roles.
• Turnover was higher among underrepresented groups: almost half of the women and over half of the Asian, Black, and Hispanic or Latino executives on the current leadership teams were appointed after 2020.
• Out of all appointments after 2020, 68% were white and, coincidentally, 68% were men.
• Furthermore, by 2022, men more often retained the same role they had in 2020, while women were more often new appointments.
• In terms of the functions added to and removed from leadership teams, quality, assurance, and compliance were most often added, while strategy, operations, and commercial were most often removed.

To read the full article, open or download the PDF. 

About the authors

Alyse Bodine (abodine@heidrick.com) is the global managing partner of the Financial Officers Practice; she is based in Heidrick & Struggles’ Philadelphia office.

Victoria Reese (vreese@heidrick.com) is the global managing partner of the Corporate Officers Practice; she is based in the New York office.

References

¹ Route to the Top, Heidrick & Struggles, heidrick.com.

² For more on how the growing leadership team size creates opportunities for diversity, see “The composition of Fortune 100 executive teams: How diverse is the CEO succession pipeline at leading companies?” Heidrick & Struggles, heidrick.com.