President Jill Christie reported in a recent CEO Update that Tuft data confirms current trends: Average tenures of five to seven years for association chief executives are “becoming the norm.” She added: “You are not seeing CEOs who stay for 13 years or more.”
In addition to moving into retirement, CEOs also step down when board priorities and expectations change. For instance, CEOs can be brought on to turn around declining memberships or to increase fundraising. But, said Christie, a few years down the line, “those strategic options change and will often lead to a CEO’s departure.”
Based on CEO Update’s own analysis of executive tenure: “Roughly one in four association CEOs have exited the organizations they led within five years of their first day on the job.”
See the full article, “Quarter of CEOs leave association within five years of starting,” in CEO Update (subscription required).
