Crash Report: Rite Aid

John A. Allison once said to me, “You can judge a CEO by what happens in the year after they leave.”

It’s a wise insight. The full effect of a CEO’s leadership isn’t always seen in the first 100 days, the first year, or even the first five years of their tenure. Only once they step away can you truly tell how well they were running the company.

For one, you see how strong of a system they built. If the CEO applied a durable set of practices and processes that keep running even in their absence, they set their successor up for success. That’s one of the biggest blessings a new CEO can ask for and a strong sign of organizational health.

Second, when a CEO steps away from the job voluntarily, you see how much thought they put into their successor. These transitions are some of the most consequential moments in the life of a business—and a common way for CEOs to make terrible mistakes.

In today’s Managing the Future, we’re doing something a little different. In place of the usual economic run…