The gap between intention and action
Family business owners know succession matters. Most have a plan on paper. Few are carrying it out. That gap is where companies lose value, key people, and years of momentum.
Deloitte Private calls this the succession paradox. In 28 years of executive search, 24 of them leading Driggs Search International, I have watched it play out in owner conversations every year. The owner agrees the next leader matters. The owner has a name in mind or a document in a drawer. Then a strong quarter arrives, or a hard one, and the work slides another year.
The numbers behind the paradox
Only 23 percent of family businesses are carrying out a succession plan, while 78 percent expect a new CEO within a decade. Deloitte Private published these findings on February 10, 2026, from a survey of 300 U.S. family business executives.
- 78 percent expect a CEO transition within the next 10 years
- 42 percent expect that transition within three to five years
- 85 percent say strategic succession planning is critical
- 57 percent have a succession plan in place
- 23 percent are actively implementing their plan
- 30 percent say their planning is behind schedule
- 61 percent have at least one family member who wants the CEO role, and only 23 percent believe that person is ready today
Read those numbers together. Nearly half of these companies expect a new CEO inside five years, and fewer than one in four are acting on a plan. Five years sounds like a long runway. Developing an internal successor, or recruiting an outside CEO and transferring key relationships, uses most of it.
The three challenges that stall succession
Readiness, not interest, is the top barrier. Deloitte Private’s global report, released July 8, 2026, surveyed 1,587 family business executives and named three leading succession challenges.
- The next generation lacks sufficient experience or qualifications (35 percent).
- The company struggles to identify a suitable successor (33 percent).
- Current leaders are reluctant to give up control (32 percent).
The three are close in weight, and they feed each other. An owner who doubts the next generation holds on longer. An owner who holds on gives the next generation fewer chances to prove themselves. Without a clear standard for the role, nobody agrees on who is suitable.
The same report shows how families build readiness. 44 percent give next-generation leaders formal roles with performance accountability. 43 percent use on-the-job training and shadowing. 40 percent require outside work experience before a family member joins the business.
Outside CEOs are set to double
The share of family businesses expecting to appoint a non-family CEO after succession is projected to double, from 13 percent today to 26 percent. Deloitte ties this shift to the readiness concerns above.
This is a healthy trend when owners handle it well. An outside CEO brings proven experience, an independent view, and stronger operating discipline. Family members then focus where they add the most value, often as owners, board members, or leaders of a function they know well.
An outside CEO solves a capability gap. It does not solve a governance gap. Before the search starts, the family needs to agree on three things:
- What the CEO decides alone, and what goes to the board or family council
- How the family measures the new CEO’s success in the first 24 months
- What role the founder or senior family leaders hold after the transition
When those answers are vague, a strong outside CEO walks into competing expectations and loses the authority to lead.
What we see in Utah and Idaho companies
Utah and Idaho have a deep base of founder-led companies. Many were built in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, and their founders now face the transition Deloitte describes. Here is what our recent searches show. Client names stay confidential.
Decide internal or external before the search starts
A privately held Utah company asked us to recruit a head of operations with a seat on the senior leadership team. We delivered a slate of six candidates, each with a detailed questionnaire and written assessment. A few weeks later, the CEO paused the search and promoted a leader from the sales team instead. The internal choice was a sound call for that business. The lesson is timing. Settle the internal versus external question first, and the company saves weeks of time and resources and protects its reputation with the candidates it engaged.
The founder’s first handoff is operations
The owner and CEO of a growing e-commerce services firm hired us to find a C-level head of operations to take over the work he runs today. He timed the hire for after his busiest season, so the new leader starts with a full year ahead. This is succession in its first form. The founder keeps the CEO title and hands off the daily operating load. Owners who make this move early build the bench a future CEO transition depends on.
Leadership hires work with clear criteria
Earlier this year, in 2026, we placed both a President and an EVP of Sales for a privately held direct selling company. For each search, we scored finalists against a ten-criterion matrix we put together and the leadership team agreed to up front. Clear criteria let the owners compare every finalist on equal terms. The result was two successful hires and a smooth leadership transition.
How to move from plan to action
Execution starts with a date and a written profile of the next CEO. These seven steps turn a document in a drawer into a working plan.
- Set a target transition date. Work backward from it to set deadlines for every step below.
- Define the role before the person. Write the three to five outcomes the next CEO must deliver in the first 24 months.
- Hold family, internal, and outside candidates to the same standard. Use the same criteria, the same interviews, and the same assessment.
- Build the team below the CEO first. Your COO, CFO, and sales leader determine whether an internal successor emerges and what an outside CEO inherits.
- Settle decision rights. Put in writing what the CEO, the board, and the family each decide.
- Plan for the unplanned. Name who runs the company next Monday if the CEO is out without warning.
- Check the outside market early. Know what an external CEO costs, where they come from, and how long the search takes before you choose a path.
Request a confidential succession readiness conversation
If your company expects a CEO transition in the next five years, start the work this quarter. Driggs Search International has served founder-led, family-owned, and privately held companies since 2002.
In one confidential conversation, we review your timeline, your internal candidates, the leadership team beneath the CEO, and what the outside market looks like for your role. You leave with a clear view of where you stand and what to do next. Everything you share stays confidential.
Reserve a time: calendly.com/dsi-scott/search-conversation
Scott Driggs, CEO, Driggs Search International
Office (801) 253-1818
scott@driggssearch.com
Sources
- Deloitte Private survey reveals family businesses are facing a succession paradox, February 10, 2026
- Family business succession planning and the next generation, 2026, Deloitte Private
- Global report reveals succession preparedness gaps, July 8, 2026
- Executive summary, Family business succession planning and the next generation, 2026