Moving upwards in a company is normal. And most people aspire to one day having the big role in their company.
A recent McKinsey survey found that CFOs who eventually become CEO tend to start a strategic review soon after taking over. Whilst that may make sense from a management perspective given that a new leadership obviously means a new strategy, to me it signals that the CFO was not bring constructive or that the CEO was not always open to other opinions.
If then-CFOs feel the need to launch a strategic review soon after taking on the CEO role, it must been that either their ideas were not being listened to or that they were not disclosing their ideas to the CEO at the time. In either case, it means the communication was not transparent or fluent between the members of the management team. Because instinctively if all C-suite members are being listened too and their is open and fair communication between the management, then one would not expect many strategic changes right after the CEO change.
That is why it is so important for CEOs to listen to the members of their C-suite, but it is also important for those C-suite members to be transparent and open in the sharing of information and of ideas; so that the company can adopt a strategic view that encompasses all views and opinions.
Pablo F. Alonso Caprile 