A new CEO inherits a team built for the last CEO. Some of it fits, some of it does not, and the new CEO usually knows within a month which is which. What they often lack is evidence, and a Board that will accept a reshuffle on instinct.
The order that works
Start with the roles that carry the plan. If the strategy is growth by acquisition, the finance director and whoever runs integration come first. If it is a turnaround, operations and people. If it is a regulatory problem, risk and compliance. The roles that carry the most weight in the plan get reviewed first, regardless of who is in them.
Then the roles where the new CEO has doubts. It is better to test a doubt with evidence in month two than to act on it in month eight after a bad quarter.
Then the rest, over the following six months, as part of a normal executive team review.
What a review of one role looks like
Three weeks. The role as the plan needs it, written down. An assessment of the incumbent against that: structured interview, references from people who have worked with them, a psychometric if the CEO wants one. An external comparison so the CEO knows what the alternative would cost and whether it is available. A recommendation: keep, develop, or replace.
Why the external comparison matters
New CEOs sometimes replace people who are better than anything available. They also sometimes keep people because they underestimate what is available. The market map settles both.
The conversation with the Board
A Board that appointed a CEO for change will still be uncomfortable with three executive departures in six months. Evidence changes that conversation. "I have assessed the finance director against the plan and against the market, and here is what I found" is a very different sentence from "I do not think he is up to it".
We do this work for new CEOs regularly. Some roles reviewed lead to a change, some to a development plan, and some to a confirmation that the person is right. The last group is the one CEOs are most surprised by, and most relieved about.