From the Handelsblatt archive: Many companies always promote the same types of people and leave the workforce frustrated. Experts explain the mechanisms – and what needs to change.
Career ladder: Classic leadership development is no longer ideal. Photo: midjourney - Thomas Berger
Dusseldorf. More and more covert search orders from personnel consultants who fill management positions show: Supervisory boards and entrepreneurs doubt their top talent - and are looking for replacements for the incumbents. HR consultant Nicolas von Rosty, head of Heidrick & Struggles in Germany, says: “A number of managers are waiting and some have even fallen into a state of complete shock.
CEOs and managing directors are hesitant to make radical decisions in the face of crises, trade conflicts and artificial intelligence (AI) - such as cutting jobs, relocating locations or realigning the business model.
Regardless of whether you lack the appropriate experience or the right personality to tackle challenges, if the wrong people lead, the consequences can be catastrophic.
Wrongful appointments to key positions slow down organizations. Companies lose effectiveness because strategic decisions are not made boldly or changes are blocked. Employee turnover is increasing and talent is being lost. Productivity and innovative power decline.
Managers, headhunters and insiders explain why unsuitable management personnel rise to the top - and how it can be done better. Three factors play an important role.
Factor one: fireside career – loyalty trumps performance
Top positions in Germany are often the result of internal advancement – from team leader all the way up to the executive chair. Whether it's a corporation or a medium-sized company: managers rise step by step in the same company over the years. Critics call this a “chimney career” – always upwards, but always in the same shaft.
An evaluation of the CVs of the DAX 40 board members, as last carried out by the Handelsblatt Research Institute at the end of 2025, shows: Almost two thirds of the board members of Germany's largest companies were promoted internally. At BASF, BMW, Continental, DHL, Rheinmetall, RWE and Zalando, all of them without exception.
What is striking is the similarity of many of the 231 CVs: male, between 50 and 60 years old, studied economics, is a German citizen. Diversity looks different.
The chimney career has produced many successful captains of industry in the past. But now this career model no longer seems ideal.
And there are several reasons for this: “Anyone who advances internally gets to know the decision-makers and customs of their own company intensively, but rarely experiences alternative organizational forms or management concepts,” says personnel consultant Norbert Graschi. Before moving into human resources consulting, the head of Graschi Executive Search & Career Consulting worked as a human resources manager for around 20 years: at BMW, Infineon and most recently he headed management development at Siemens.
Norbert Graschi: “Those who move skillfully within a hierarchical structure often have a better chance of getting ahead,” says the personnel consultant. Photo: private
He says about the chimney career: “It values long-term service, good networking and loyalty.” Performance is maintained. “But someone who moves skillfully within the hierarchical structure often has a better chance of making progress than someone who thinks outside the box or suggests new paths.”
Every promotion requires the approval of many superiors. “This prevents open opposition and diversity of opinion,” says Graschi. “Executives who move to another company are considered defectors,” says the former DAX manager.
All in all, this career model does little to prepare you to excel in an extraordinary situation of disruptive technologies, global crises and growing pressure to innovate.
What needs to change
Career paths and talent development should be reconsidered. “It cannot be the case that companies necessarily fill CEO positions internally just because they have been promising them for years,” says headhunter Nicolas von Rosty. External candidates should be given greater consideration.
Private financial investors such as Blackstone or KKR are leading the way: They consciously rely on external managing directors “who do not have to take internal networks into account,” says the personnel consultant.
Returnees also deserve a chance more often, says his consultant colleague Norbert Graschi: formerly employed managers who have gained new experience as interim managers or founders.
Overall, more openness - including for those switching between corporations and medium-sized companies - creates more movement in the job market for managers. And bring companies more diversity, experience and innovative strength.
Factor 2: Management versus Leadership – managing instead of leading
“Many top managers are technically strong, but weak when it comes to leadership,” says Gabriele Thiel (name changed by the editors). The manager from the automotive industry rose to the middle level of a DAX company after university.
From her first day as a supervisor, she was irritated by the fact that “the management task is understood primarily as administration.” Control processes, control budgets, follow specified structures. “It works, but there is a lack of attitude, inspiration and courage to change,” she says.
Innovation is seen as a risk, not as a management task. The fear of taking on responsibility is often greater than the will to shape the future. Thiel's explanation for this: "If you change things, you risk failing - so everything stays as it is." Visions, values, good employee communication? None. And so “Excel instead of excellence” reigns in the management circle from the team leader to the top of the board, she summarizes.
What needs to change
"If the leadership ideal means 'calculating correctly' rather than inspiring, motivation and energy as well as the employees' desire for meaning and recognition often remain unused," says Anja Michael. Zvoove's human resources manager has more than 25 years of experience in leadership roles in human resources in medium-sized companies.
Regardless of whether it is a family business or an international corporation: employees who are only perceived as numbers do not develop their potential. Instead, Michael advocates for an alternative understanding of leadership.
“Employees want to be seen as people, especially when increased effort is required in times of crisis or transformation,” she says. She has to fill up to five management positions - C-level positions - every year because her group of companies is growing through acquisitions. The challenge: quickly integrating the new employees.
The manager is in demand as a coach: someone who recognizes individual strengths, leverages potential and distributes responsibility across several shoulders. Michael: “Those who lead like this encourage ideas, create space for innovative solutions – and deal with mistakes professionally.”
No blaming game, but constructive feedback - and an open admission when the manager makes a mistake. Michael: “This creates psychological safety – and a culture in which employees dare to think for themselves.”
When selecting managers, the following should apply: Leadership is more than just achieving goals. Human resources manager Michael says: “Candidates must show that they can inspire innovation and change and promote initiative and teamwork.”
They would also have to prove that they are willing to learn. Michael asks questions in the interview such as: What wrong decisions did you make - and how did you deal with them? Or: What feedback from your employees affected you? “Anyone who answers openly and reflectively here has the right spirit,” says Michael.
Factor three: Supervisory boards and external consultants – selection with blind spots
In listed companies, supervisory boards usually decide on filling top positions - supported by external personnel consultants. This selection process is not free from your own interests, preferences or structural restrictions.
According to “Board Monitor Europe 2025” by Heidrick & Struggles, for example, only 52 percent of the newly appointed supervisory board members in Germany in 2024 were themselves in a managerial position.
“As a result, there is often a lack of practical experience with current topics such as digital transformation or AI - and therefore an understanding of what skills top managers need today,” says Nicolas von Rosty.
In addition: “Supervisory boards and headhunters sometimes have exclusive connections,” says Norbert Graschi. Confirmed by Rosty: “Particularly in the DAX sector, the following often applies: people have known each other for years – and keep to themselves.” The result: “Familiar candidate profiles are preferred,” Rosty and Graschi agree.
What needs to change
Companies and their committees should take targeted action against blind spots. This begins with the willingness to question familiar patterns – the similarity principle, “according to which candidates who are similar to the decision-makers are preferred,” says von Rosty. From gender to qualifications to understanding of leadership. For more diversity, HR consultants should make search profiles broader.
