1. PowerSkills Training & Development, Inc.
4224 Plaza Sonata . Santa Fe . New Mexico . 87507
www.yourpowerskills.com Facebook.com/yourpowerskills Twitter@yourpowerskills LinkedIn/RobertSchout
Bob@yourpowerskills.com Ph. 619-517-6299 yourpowerskills@gmail.com
Succession
Planning:
A
Place
to
Start
By: Bob Schout, PowerSkills Training & Development, Inc.
A client of mine recently called me and, with a sigh of professional sadness, he said, “You know, Bob,
I was a damn good manager, a value executive director; I helped the business grow and everyone
told me so. But, I fell down with the job of leadership. When I left my last position, even though I
helped to grow the business, like a house of cards, pieces of it collapsed after I left my last position. I
couldn’t believe it. I worked so hard to sustain the growth of the business and the motivation of my
former team. I don’t know what happened.”
This story can be re-told by many of us, at all levels of leadership. We leave and our institutional
knowledge and skills leaves with us. More troubling is the fact that we also allow others to leave
(because of termination, retirement, various forms of leave, illness or a myriad of other reasons) and
they, too, take their knowledge, skills, insights and abilities with them; forcing our organizations to be
in constant, but unnecessary, catch-up mode. It has been said that a great manager ensures
movement and attainment of high levels of productivity, performance, project goal achievement and
client service; but a truly great leader accomplishes all of the aforementioned objectives while also
maintaining the motivation of others, inspiring others, building the capacity of others and of the
organizational systems and infrastructure, visioning the future, and developing plans to achieve all
visions and goals. Wow! That’s a lot to ask….or is it?
One of the 4 core dimensions of leadership1
is the ability to become a Strategic Leader, one who is
able to engage in, and facilitate, planning of all kinds, at all levels (e.g., succession planning, change
management planning, strategic planning, project and program planning, individual development
planning, etc.). This ability is one of the ability skill sets which separates great managers from great
leaders. Succession planning is a key strategic leadership skill set.
Succession planning incorporates both skills and strategies in order to create and sustain processes
by which an organization ensures its ability to retain institutional knowledge and skills, as well as
prepare organizational stakeholders (e.g., employees, supervisors, peers, etc.) to know and be able
to assume, the responsibilities of other positions during times of transition (e.g., retirement of
someone, someone taking extended leave, someone resigning or being terminated unexpectedly,
etc.). Without quality processes and practices in place a team or organization is left to struggle, strain
and fill the gaps when someone leaves a position temporarily or permanently. Succession planning is
not a static process. It is not something that one puts on paper and sets aside for some future
transitional need. It is an ongoing process, set of procedures, peer and/or leadership practices, and
documented plans…all put together and acted upon with regularity.
1
the 4 Core Dimensions of Leadership are aspects of The Leadership Star ™
(Source: Inspired Leadership: On Becoming a Leadership Star, by Bob Schout)
