Succession Planning: A Tale of Two Futures

By Hamza Shayk August 31, 2023

August 31, 2023

Dear Leaders,

Picture this. Your star employee, the one who knows your company like the back of their hand, suddenly hands in a two-week notice. There’s a gap in the boardroom, a sinking feeling in your stomach.

Or consider this. After decades at the helm, a charismatic CEO is ready to retire, but there’s no heir apparent. What happens next?

Succession Planning is a critical and often neglected topic. Through this lens, we’ll explore not only the mechanics of “who’s next” but also the soulful art of nurturing future leaders.

The Importance: Foresight is 20/20

At its core, succession planning isn’t just about replacement. It’s about vision; seeing the world as it could be, not merely as it is.

It’s a proactive embrace of the inevitable changes in leadership that every organization will face. Think of it as crafting a roadmap for stability and continuity.

Without a succession plan, companies may resort to a hasty, reactionary scramble when a key leader departs. Remember when Steve Jobs initially left Apple in the 1980s? The company floundered because, in many ways, there was no ‘next Steve Jobs’ in line.

The How: Cultivating Leaders, Not Just Picking Them

The secret sauce? Don’t make succession planning an event. Make it a process. A culture, even. Identify and nurture potential leaders long before the need arises.

Step One: Identify

Start by spotting the potential leaders within your ranks. Who shows initiative, curiosity, and resilience? Who steps up when the going gets tough?

Step Two: Develop

This is where mentorship and training come into play. Create environments where future leaders can grow through challenges, not in spite of them.

Step Three: Evaluate

Give your potential successors real projects, and see how they navigate.

Step Four: Refine

Based on this ‘real world’ experience, offer feedback, coaching, and, most importantly, opportunities for them to learn and improve.

Real-Life Chronicles: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Let’s talk about Disney. In 2005, after a period of turbulence under CEO Michael Eisner, Bob Iger took the reins as a well-groomed successor. Iger, having been with ABC and Disney for years, wasn’t a random choice. He was a calculated decision rooted in a deep understanding of the company’s needs and his capabilities. The result? More than a decade of stability and growth for Disney.

On the flip side, remember Yahoo? In the 2000s and 2010s, Yahoo went through a revolving door of CEOs, each with a different ‘vision’ for the company. The result was a turbulent period with a lack of coherent strategy, eventually leading to its decline as a tech giant.

And then there’s the bittersweet lesson of Apple. After Jobs’ initial exit, the company struggled to maintain its innovative edge under a succession of leaders who didn’t quite fit the mold. But when Jobs returned, he didn’t just bring innovation; he brought Tim Cook into the leadership fold, grooming him as a successor who deeply understood Apple’s ethos. The result? A seamless transition when Jobs sadly passed, and a continuing era of growth and innovation for Apple under Cook’s leadership.

Making Succession a Story, not a Crisis

Think of succession planning as storytelling. Create a narrative for your organization that extends beyond the current chapter, beyond the current cast of characters. It’s a story that, if crafted with care, can turn the page smoothly when the time comes.

In this story, the stakes are high. Without foresight, the departure of a key player can become a crisis, a cliffhanger with the future of the company hanging in the balance. Thoughtful succession planning, however, becomes an exciting new chapter, a testament to the organization’s resilience and vision.

So, as you ponder the future of your organization, ask yourself: Are we simply hoping for a happy ending, or are we actively writing that future, one potential leader at a time?

The pen, as they say, is in your hands.