Robust succession planning is essential for business continuity, talent retention and protecting legacies. Jackie Stouffer, President of FIDI’s 39 Club, looks at why leaders must take a proactive role in shaping the future of their businesses
Succession – in life or business – should never be assumed or taken for granted. You cannot predict the future, so a leader’s responsibility is to plan for multiple versions of what lies ahead and be ready to pivot if even their best-laid plans do not work out.
Why? Because to do anything less than that exposes you to risk.
Put simply, succession planning is a form of risk management. A solid succession plan should involve layers – a bench, if you will – and should span years. I am 35 and am actively working on a succession plan for the role that I took on just over a year ago, and have plans for just about every position in my organisation for which I am responsible. This isn’t because I intend to go anywhere in the immediate future, but because I owe it to my team, my company and myself to have a plan.
A leader and company that takes succession planning seriously is more likely to retain its talent. By planning actively, you show your employees that there is a path for them within the organisation, sending a clear signal about investing and promoting from within. As a leader, having a plan is my responsibility. It is not a ‘nice to have’; it is essential.
Now, to the second part of my previous statement: ‘I owe it to myself’ to plan. For the sake of this article, I am going to assume that people in a leadership role have worked hard to get where they are in their career, and have changed and improved the companies for which they work.
When you fail to plan for succession, you run the risk of taking all that you’ve worked for in your hard-earned career and setting it on fire. There are generally two types of leaders to which this happens: the one who wilfully ignores the need for planning and believes ‘things will just work out’; and the one who thinks no-one can do the job better than they can, so needs to stay in their role as long as humanly possible. Both trains of thought are dangerous to business continuity.
To the leader who just doesn’t see planning as a priority, I have two questions: Are you proud of the work you’ve done? Would you like to ensure it is carried on, and expanded upon in the future? If the answer to either of these is ‘yes’, then you need a plan. Now.
To the leader who can’t let go, I ask: What drives you to hold on and fear letting go? How many bright employees have you lost over the years because the ceiling to their personal development was so glaringly obvious? You are clearly proud of the legacy you’ve built in your role (and so you should be), but isn’t the best way to preserve your life’s work to plan for the next generation to take over? The key to this is to plan with them, ideally even handing over responsibility while you are still there to mentor and guide them. The company will go on without you at some point in time; another person will be able to do the job you are doing. This is a fact. You should consider being the architect of this change, rather than a speed bump on the road to progress. This is not a sign of weakness; it is a strength.
I am passionate about this topic, having been an active participant in a successfully executed plan for my own future and now the driver responsible for planning for the futures of a growing team of talent.
My key takeaway is this – succession planning should be an internal choice, made by a company and its leaders, not left to be forced upon you by external factors.
Navigating and welcoming change is a key theme of the FIDI 39 Club, and absolutely vital to the continued health of our industry. It may be difficult to navigate change across generational divides, but it’s not impossible. It is up to us all to ‘mind the gap’ – and, if we do, we will be collectively stronger for it.
Jackie Stouffer
President, FIDI 39 Club