In a perfect world, the reason for your CEO's departure wouldn't have any impact on the new one coming in. Additionally, the change would allow the public and all investors to approach the CEO tenure of the new one as a blank slate.
However, this factor does make a difference, and the reasons given are memorable. There's nothing you can really do about this, but you should note that business succession planning can and should begin far before the departure announcement is even made.
Look at the way that one CEO is making his exit. According to the Wall Street Journal, Dave Yost of AmerisourceBergen is really retiring to fulfill the old cliche of "spending time with the wife and kids."
For Yost, those words mean something sincere, and while it can be hard to make this look like something other than a surrender, that's not the impression one gets at all in his words with the Journal.
"You get a bit hamstrung by your own success. Maybe you don't take risks. It's hard to admit, but it's time for the next set of guys," Yost said. "CEOs who stick around stifle upward mobility."
How long a period "sticking around" refers to may be debated, but there's little arguing that Yost's point will carry some weight among others. With an executive recruitment firm, you can minimize the period between when a CEO realizes he or she is ready to go and when the new recruit will step in to take his or her place.
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