Are you interested in getting promoted beyond your current role? Many executives subscribe to the philosophy that you cannot possibly be considered to move on to do something new in an organization until you have readied someone else to take on your current position. Perhaps you’re a business owner or high-level leader and have identified a time in the near future when you would like to “turn over the reins” of company leadership into the capable hands of a skilled successor.
In both scenarios, you would benefit from thinking about your own personal succession plan. As dedicated professionals, we all want to see the hard work we have invested in creating, building, or sustaining a successful business or department continue beyond our daily leadership. The idea that a true mark of a leader is seen when the person is not present or involved in the daily operations is at work here.
Internal succession planning refers to implementing the strategy, structure, processes and talent required to ensure the highest likelihood for the long-term sustainability of your business. Most Board of Directors or Executive Leaders will articulate the value of having a succession plan in place, yet, why do many companies or leaders lack any formal succession plan? A research poll from SHRM (the Society of Human Resource Management found that only 23 percent of organizations have a formal succession plan and 38 percent have some informal planning in place. These numbers are low compared to just how important succession planning is to an organization’s success. The research also found that larger organizations (with 2,500 employees or more) are much more likely to have succession plans.
Frankly, developing a succession plan can seem daunting at first. Lack of knowledge on how to go about it or where to begin can often be a barrier to getting started. While it is critical to have a well-designed succession plan in place, it’s like creating a road map for a journey: It’s not advisable to begin the journey until you know exactly where it is you want to go. The key to your succession plan is picking a spot and focusing your energy on the effective execution of your approach.
Here are some questions to help you think through your role and identify what you would expect from a potential successor to be able to step into your shoes and meet business demands:
- How does your position support the achievement of the organizations Vision and Mission? If your organization has defined this specifically, you will want to reference each part of the mission and connect what exactly your role does to support the realization of the mission. Doing this ensures you stay focused on the bigger picture, aligning with what the company is focused on more strategically.
- What are the key responsibilities your successor will need to perform? You may have a job description that includes some of this information, but most people need to take a look at what needs to be updated and document this to start. Many times the different roles you hold in your job are a function of your unique combination of expertise. It may not make sense to have another person perform the role in the future exactly as you do today. What other leaders or departments might pick up some of the activities you preform today, if you were not there? Would some parts of the role be split among different job or existing roles in the company? When you untie yourself from the way things are today, you may be surprised at how logical it is to look at your set of responsibilities differently.
- What is the knowledge and skills/abilities (often referred to as competencies) that will be needed for this person to be successful? You will want to consider this question for today, but also for the future. You would do this by clarifying what competencies will be needed for the future if the organization is to achieve strategic objectives or to stay ahead of dynamic trends. It is helpful to rank or prioritize a list when you do this. Sometimes our list gets so exhaustive, it disqualifies any possible candidate. Ranking will help you keep perspective on what is most critical for success on the job.
You may be in a situation where you have a successor in mind. Someone you believe will handle the next level of responsibility well; who is prepared (or at least you can see a feasible way to prepare him or her in a reasonable amount of time). If you find yourself in this category, take an objective look at your succession candidate. Use the “3Ps” as a guide: Performance, Potential and Perception.
Performance: Contemplate the person(s) you are considering in terms of how they have applied their knowledge, skills and abilities to achieve success to date. How does that transfer to what would be expected of him/her in your role? Where have they demonstrated a track record of success that is relevant?
Potential: Where does this person have room to grow and what capacity do they possess to take on greater levels or responsibility or expand in new areas? What have they mastered that will translate well as they expand into other areas?
Perception: As a leader I used to work with would say, “Do they play well in the sandbox?” How do others in the organization view this person? What is the “word on the street” as it relates to their interpersonal skills, ability to build relationships and bring people together on a team. These skills become more crucial as responsibility increases. Do you want peers and team members to resoundingly support this person in a leadership role or question how he or she could possibly be promoted given their behavior? People’s perceptions of this person may be inaccurate, but perceptions exist for a reason. Explore what that is. Consider what developmental coaching is needed to help this person succeed.
Marshall Goldsmith, a well-recognized coaching guru explains it this way:
“My personal approach to this type of developmental coaching involves asking each stakeholder three simple questions:
- What are this person’s existing strengths that will help her be a great leader in the future?
- What are this person’s challenges that may need to be overcome if she wants to lead?
- If you were her coach, what specific suggestions would you give her — either strategic or tactical — that, if she followed them, would help her become a great leader?
Now that feedback has been gathered, it is time to figure out what your succession candidate needs to change, wants to change, and is willing to change, and then it is time to begin the coaching process.”
Certainly these are not easy questions to answer. They will take time and reflection to answer thoughtfully and thoroughly. If you do invest the time, the payoff will be strengthened likelihood to a successful transition and a legacy that lasts beyond your time in the role.