Emma Combe

speaker

323 appearances 4 recordings 1 series first heard Jan 2026 last heard 9 Sep

Emma Combe’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 4 in all, peaking in Sep 2026 with 1.

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Redefiners · Leadership Lounge: How to Succeed as an Interim CEO · 15 Jul 2026 podcast

Before we dive in, remember to share any burning questions you want our experts to answer by emailing redefiners at russellreynolds.com.

We look forward to hearing from you.

And if you enjoy listening to our episodes, leave us a review on Apple or Spotify.

We'll share a link to it in our show notes.

Let's dive in.

First up, I'd like to welcome Effie Ekaizi, Leadership Advisor at Russell Reynolds Associates Miami office.

Effie has over two decades of experience advising senior leaders, and I'm looking forward to hearing his perspective on the topic.

Effie, welcome to the Leadership Lounge.

So before we really get into how to succeed as an interim CEO, I'd like to first speak a little bit about the increase in appointments.

While interim CEO appointments are still uncommon, our data shows that in 2025, 27 interim CEOs were appointed on the major indices around the world that we track, which is a significant increase from 16 in 2024.

Let's dig into some of the reasons why these appointments are increasing in the first place.

Effie, what's driving it in your experience?

You're right, Effie, and many board clients I speak with do have to deal with this sudden emergency appointment situation.

And while many organisations will have CEO succession plans in place, we have seen an increase in sudden leadership departures, whether driven by performance concerns or personal misconduct.

When these unexpected events occur, boards take their responsibility to identify the right successor very seriously, in my experience, and that process naturally takes time.

So appointing an interim leader can provide much needed stability and continuity for the organisation during a period of real uncertainty.

That said, not all boards place enough emphasis on succession planning.

In fact, our research found that nearly half of board directors surveyed in 2025 reported they did not have a formal CEO succession plan in place.

I'd now like to introduce Amy Williamson, Leadership Advisor in Russell Reynolds Associates Sydney office to speak on this topic.

Amy, welcome to the Leadership Lounge.

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