The article includes an interview with Mark Thompson, CEO of The New York Times Company, about his own succession process in 2012. The outgoing CEO, the chief human resources officer, and the board all have key roles to play in the process, writes the author, who describes best practices for each.

It is a longer process of interactions both formal and informal, planned and impromptu it should begin when the board’s choice accepts the position and last for months after he or she arrives. A CEO transition is not the same as onboarding, which is a formal, short-term, agenda-driven orientation program of briefings and meetings. Boards and key executives may not grasp the complex nature of CEO succession or consider the likely political and cultural challenges the new leader will face. New leaders may be unable to read the political situation clearly or achieve the cultural changes their strategic and operational agendas require.

But when succession fails, the responsibility is almost always shared.

Sometimes the new leader makes poor strategic moves, and sometimes the board makes an imperfect choice, overestimating a candidate’s abilities or hiring someone whose skill set doesn’t fit the context. A startling percentage of new CEOs fail within their first 18 months, according to many estimates-whether they come from outside or are promoted from within.