New Research: The New Shelf Life of New Zealand CEOs
We are pleased to share a copy of our latest research paper,“6.8 Years: The New Shelf Life of New Zealand CEOs”, completed in collaboration with Chris Johnson About — Chris Johnson and Sonya Cowen Sonya Cowen from Winsborough. Together, we explored CEO tenure, hiring patterns, and demographic shifts across the NZX 50 and New Zealand’s Primary Sector, benchmarked against global trends.
At a time when leadership resilience, succession planning, and organisational transformation remain key Board priorities, the findings provide a timely perspective on how executive leadership is evolving in New Zealand and internationally.
A few insights that stood out:
- Average CEO tenure across the NZX 50 and Primary Sector now sits at 6.8 years, aligning closely with global benchmarks.
- Primary Sector CEO tenure is slightly shorter, at approximately six years, highlighting that leadership cycles are contracting even in sectors that have historically valued continuity and deep industry experience.
- External appointments have overtaken internal succession as the most common pathway to the CEO role, signalling a growing appetite for transformation and fresh perspectives.
- Approximately 23% of CEO appointments are sourced internationally or have international experience, highlighting the increasing value placed on global leadership experience.
The research reinforces the importance of proactive succession planning and ensuring leadership capability keeps pace with an increasingly dynamic operating environment.
We trust you find the report valuable and that it prompts useful discussion around leadership succession, talent strategy, and the future capability requirements of New Zealand organisations.
My thanks to Chris Johnson and Sonya Cowen from Winsborough for their collaboration on this research.
If you’d like to discuss the findings, benchmark your succession approach, or explore what these trends may mean for your organisation, please feel free to get in touch with us.