CEO turnover surged in 2024, with disengagement at the top threatening transformation. Nick Petschek argues that we must move beyond traditional support roles to become active catalysts of change: spotting early signs of executive withdrawal, reigniting urgency, and embedding engagement as a strategic capability in today’s fast-moving, AI-driven business landscape.
CEO turnover hit a five year high in 2024, with average tenure dropping from 8.4 to 6.7 years. One in four CEO transitions in EMEA during 2024 were unplanned due to “fit and alignment” issues, evidence that many organisations only intervened once disengagement had reached crisis level.
When senior executives avoid difficult decisions and enter a mode of “quiet quitting,” it has a cascading effect on the rest of the organisation installing a barrier to transformation. The sense of urgency at the top evaporates, and momentum across the enterprise stalls. Critical choices such as market positioning, technology investments and organisational restructuring are often delayed or avoided entirely.
In today’s AI-driven economy, where rapid adaptation is essential for survival, this is particularly dangerous. To counter this, HR leaders need to step beyond traditional support functions and take on a catalytic role, mobilising coalitions, surfacing hidden barriers, and reigniting urgency so that executive engagement becomes a source of resilience, not a point of risk.
Why traditional methods fall short
Most approaches to disengagement are designed for frontline employees, not executives, and fail to recognise the unique pressures, expectations and systemic impact of executive roles. Too often, companies succumb to an “ejector seat” mentality, where they replace leaders when problems surface rather than sustaining engagement and energy, and perhaps uncovering and solving, more systemic issues over the long term.
This approach is disruptive, costly, and risky. Executive turnover drains resources, destabilises culture, and delays transformation. Worse, by focusing narrowly on financial KPIs, organisations often miss early signs of leadership withdrawal, which only serves to mask the problem until results are already in decline.
The competitive landscape demands a new approach. With 42% of CEOs believing their companies won’t be viable in 10 years without reinvention, it’s crucial that leaders are fully engaged in transformation efforts. Agility and adaptation require senior leaders who model sustained energy, urgency, and commitment each day.
Modes of withdrawal
Before diving into solutions, consider how disengagement typically manifests and identify the obstacles to change. Leaders withdraw through three primary modes:
- Avoidance: delaying tough decisions
- Delegation without direction: pushing accountability to lower levels, but without the strategic guidance needed for people to make decisions that move the business forward
- External retreat: reducing visibility at industry forums and board discussions
Early signals appear across multiple stakeholder views: boards notice less genuine debate, CFOs see delayed budget approvals, CIOs encounter stalled technology decisions or misaligned decisions lower in the organisation, and talent leaders watch with anguish as high-potential employees becoming more disengaged or leaving the organisation entirely. These signals often appear well before financial performance declines, making early detection critical.
Detecting executive inertia
Leadership withdrawal often masquerades as careful deliberation, making early detection challenging without systematic assessment. People professionals can play an important role in this, thinking of themselves as a sensing system that captures shifts in confidence and energy before they calcify into inertia.
Tactics include 360-degree reviews and employee surveys specifically designed to flag declining confidence in senior leadership. Another method is talent pipeline health checks: if ambitious mid-level talent disengages, it’s often a reflection of the tone set at the top. Another important bellwether is stakeholder sentiment across board, finance, tech, and HR leaders in order to surface concerns early. Together, these act as an early warning system for timely intervention.
From framework to action
Re-engaging leaders requires moving beyond ‘replace and restart.’ It demands a deliberate process that rebuilds urgency, strengthens coalitions, and hardwires new habits into culture. Practical steps include:
- Rethinking incentives: Move beyond operational KPIs and reward bold decision-making, calculated risk-taking, and measurable progress on transformation goals
- Sustained involvement mechanisms: Provide structured learning opportunities to track progress, real-time feedback loops, and forums that compel executives to confront market realities and adapt to evolving employee and stakeholder expectations, mobilising the entire organisation to support the transformation
- Reverse mentoring: The introduction of programs where younger employees share insights on technology and market trends, but more importantly provide insights into how leaders are perceived, challenges (and solutions) they see in the organisation, have shown significant impact in maintaining executive engagement and strategic relevance
- Balance accountability with inspiration: While analytical frameworks underpin strategic decisions, logic alone rarely motivates people to act; true inspiration comes from connecting with how people feel and appealing to the fundamental human desire to contribute to something greater
Progress should be tracked with both leading indicators (CEO time allocation, wellbeing routines, team cohesion) as well as outcomes(tenure, sentiment, transformation milestone achievements). A quarterly dashboard can maintain visibility and accountability.
Being a change catalyst
Survey data, leadership audits, and cultural diagnostics position HR teams to play a central role in re-engaging the C-suite. The key lies in analysing existing data through an engagement lens rather than purely operational metrics. Look for patterns that indicate leadership withdrawal, communication gaps, or declining confidence.
From there, build strategic coaching at the top: interventions that address root causes of withdrawal through cultural transformation, clarity of direction, and leadership effectiveness.
Articulate clear connections between new behaviours and organisational success to maintain support until new patterns become strong enough to replace old habits. Most important, embed engagement into organisational routines so it becomes a capability rather than a one-time intervention.
Transformation through engagement
In an era of disruption, HR has the chance to leadexecutive engagement as a driver of business resilience and as a catalyst for meaningful change. By shifting from reactive support to proactive, data-driven interventions, they can protect stability, accelerate transformation, and strengthen competitive advantage.
Quiet quitting at the top rarely starts with a drop in results, it starts with waning urgency and fading energy. People leaders who are able to detect and reignite that energy will not only prevent crises but also unlock transformation. Act now, before it’s too late.
Nick Petschek is Managing Director EMEA at Kotter
