The Ghost of Christmas Future: Why Half Your C-Suite Is Already Planning Their Exit

Your executive team is planning something bigger than this year’s holiday party. They’re planning their exit.

Back in February 2025, 27% of C-suite leaders said they were likely to leave within six months. We’re now in November. Those six months passed. Some of your executives are already gone. Others are just waiting for their bonuses to vest before they hand you their resignation alongside their Secret Santa gift. 

And it gets worse. Over half of C-suite leaders (56%) plan to leave in the next two years. By the time you’re shopping for 2026 holiday decorations, half your leadership team could be decorating someone else’s office. 

What’s Actually Driving Executives Out the Door?

The problem is simpler than most boards want to admit. 67% of executives say they’re being asked to do more than they were two years ago. Meanwhile, 58% report their organizations rely more heavily on their function or business unit, and 44% say they’re more stressed by their work responsibilities. 

Two-thirds of your leadership team feels overworked. More than half feels like they’re carrying weight that should be distributed across shoulders that don’t exist. Nearly half admits the job is grinding them down. 

How Much Does Executive Tenure Actually Matter?

While executives are leaving their roles in droves, many boards love to talk about fresh perspectives and new blood. Sometimes that’s code for “we’re not addressing why people keep leaving.” However, companies where executives have an average tenure of five years or more outperform on revenue, customer experience, and other key metrics compared to companies with less-tenured executive teams. 

Stability isn’t boring. Stability is profitable. When executives stick around long enough to actually implement their strategies instead of just presenting them at board meetings, companies perform better. When your CFO knows the business well enough to spot problems before they show up in the numbers, you make better decisions. When your Chief Product Officer has been around long enough to understand why the last three product launches failed, the fourth one actually works. 

But you can’t build that tenure when executives are sneaking out like kids trying to avoid the family Christmas photo. And the worst part? The executives most likely to leave are often your most experienced ones. They’re the ones who’ve already given five, seven, ten years. They’ve hit their breaking point. Established executives are nearly 40% more likely to leave than new executives, which means you’re losing exactly the people you can least afford to lose right before the holiday season turns into recruiting season. 

What’s Wrong with How CHROs Handle C-Suite Dynamics?

This next statistic may ruin your eggnog. Fewer than one in four CxOs say their CHRO is effective at strengthening the C-suite’s ability to function as a cohesive team. Only 23% of C-suite leaders report their CHRO is effective at managing tension between C-suite members. 

Think about what that means. When your CFO and your COO can’t agree on priorities, there’s a three-in-four chance your CHRO isn’t helping resolve it. When your executive team is fracturing under pressure, your HR leader probably isn’t fixing it. When tensions spike during budget season (which coincidentally happens right around the holidays), most CHROs are watching from the sidelines instead of mediating. 

No wonder executives are leaving. They’re stuck in dysfunctional teams with no referee, overloaded with impossible expectations, and burning out while HR hands out wellness app subscriptions like they’re Christmas stockings full of solutions. 

What’s the Christmas Gift Your Board Actually Needs? 

Most boards treat succession planning like they treat wrapping presents: something they’ll get to eventually, probably the night before when panic sets in. By then it’s too late for anything but tape and hope. 

Real succession planning means knowing who could step into each C-suite role tomorrow. Because when your CFO hands in their notice two weeks before a board meeting, you don’t have six months. You have six days to figure out who’s presenting the financials. 

Stanton Chase’s succession planning work starts by looking at who’s actually on your bench. Your VP of Finance might be ready for CFO in two years with specific development. Or she might be excellent at her current level but unsuited for a bigger role.  

When internal succession won’t work, you need executive search. At Stanton Chase, we’ve been helping companies like yours solve their executive talent problems for more than three decades. We’re here to help you turn leadership nightmares into success stories you can tell at office Christmas parties for years to come. 

About the Author

Bernardita Mena is Stanton Chase’s Global Vice Chair of People Excellence and Managing Director for Stanton Chase Santiago. With a background in psychology and business, including a degree from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and an MBA from EADA, she believes in using leadership to drive organizational success. Before joining the executive search industry, Bernardita was a corporate leader heading initiatives like engagement, talent development, and change management for a multinational company. Now elected to Stanton Chase’s Board of Directors, she is passionate about identifying top talent that aligns with company culture and strategy.  

William Brewer, CCP, is a Director at Stanton Chase Los Angeles. He is also Stanton Chase’s Global Human Resources Functional Leader. Prior to moving into executive search, Bill had 25 years of experience in corporate human resources. In addition to his executive search career, Bill is an adjunct Professor at the University of Redlands. Bill also serves as a mentor for the MBA program at the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and has been a mentor with the School of Business at the University of Redlands.