Inside the Strategy Room

For CEOs, the first 100 days often get the most attention. But the final chapter of a CEO’s tenure can be just as consequential. In this episode, senior partner Carolyn Dewar speaks with Charles Lowrey, former executive chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, about what it takes to finish strong and manage a successful leadership transition.
Lowrey reflects on his unexpected path to the CEO role, the lessons he learned while leading through the pandemic, and why he began discussing succession with the board before officially taking the job. He explains how Prudential developed internal candidates, planned the handover in detail, and worked to make the market’s reaction to the transition “a huge yawn.”
The conversation also explores the personal side of stepping away: preparing for life after the CEO role, avoiding the temptation to remain too involved, and finding new ways to contribute. For current and aspiring CEOs, Lowrey offers practical guidance on legacy, succession, and the discipline required to lead until the very end.
Related insights
A CEO For All Seasons: Mastering the Cycles of Leadership
CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest
The Strategic CEO LinkedIn newsletter
Sending it forward: Successfully transitioning out of the CEO role
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As millions of baby boomer business owners in the United States approach retirement, the country faces a major transition in business ownership. Over the next decade, millions of small and midsize businesses could be sold, transferred, or closed, with major implications for local economies, jobs, family wealth, and economic mobility.
In this episode, we hear from partner Ken Yearwood and associate partner Nick Noel about the wave of business transfers on the horizon, the scale of the opportunity, and the risks of avoidable closures. They discuss what this transition could mean for buyers, sellers, private capital, employees, and rural communities, and explore how a broader and more inclusive ownership ecosystem could unlock long-term value.
Related insights
The Great Ownership Transfer: A new era of business stewardship
McKinsey Institute for Economic Mobility
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In this episode, we explore how finance leaders can harness AI to drive performance and create value for the organization. Our guests—Kevin Carmody, Davide Grande, and Andrea Tricoli—share insights from their research, highlighting how AI is reshaping finance functions across strategic planning, cost management, risk mitigation, and investor relations. Join us as we delve into real-world examples of AI in action and consider the evolving role of the CFO as a strategic partner in the C-Suite.
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How finance teams are putting AI to work today
Gen AI: A guide for CFOs
Gen AI in corporate functions: Looking beyond efficiency gains
Spendscape by McKinsey: Next-level spend analytics software powered by AI

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Private equity firms have long outperformed their peers—not just through financial engineering, but by building better businesses faster. In this episode, senior partner Sacha Ghai and partner Marla Capozzi discuss what leaders across sectors can learn from the highest-performing private equity CEOs. Drawing on their recent Harvard Business Review article, Sacha and Marla unpack the concept of CEO alpha: the value created when CEOs outperform as individual leaders, team builders, and operators. They explain why private equity’s edge has shifted from financial engineering to building stronger, more resilient businesses, and they share six practices that distinguish top-performing PE CEOs.
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What Every Company Can Learn from Private Equity
CEO alpha: A new approach to generating private equity outperformance
CEO Excellence: The six mindsets that distinguish the best leaders from the rest
A CEO for All Seasons: Mastering the Cycles of Leadership
The Strategic CEO
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Generative AI is reshaping the way investors evaluate opportunities and replacing much of the manual work involved in completing an outside-in diligence. Firms that adapt the fastest during this transition have the most to gain. To discuss how the deployment of gen AI in diligence can give organizations an investment edge and explore the shift from traditional diligence to AI-enabled, outside-in analysis we’re joined by David Pralong, a senior partner and the global leader of our Transformation Practice, William Bundy, a partner in our Washington D.C office, Chase Covington, a partner based in our New York office, and Laura Borton, a consultant also based in our New York office.
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From potential to performance: Using gen AI to conduct outside-in diligence
Creating Value in Portfolio Company Operations: A Practical Guide to Growing Cash Flow in Business
Wave: Your path to unprecedented performance
McKinsey insights on transformation
McKinsey insights on Strategy and Corporate Finance
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McKinsey Strategy and Corporate Finance on LinkedIn
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