How can you identify potential successors for key leadership roles?

I worked with an executive who exhibited a key quality of leadership: a hearty sense of curiosity. This leader's curiosity skills were world class. Questions were artfully posed to individuals to surface what was truly important. He rarely started a conversation with a statement. Conversing with him was a pleasure, and I unfailingly learned a great deal about myself. Thoughtful questions can lead individuals to a knowledge of their own development needs for both current and future positions, thus fostering a sense of career motion. I endorse whole-heartedly needed programmatic solutions to develop leaders and have watched over such programs for many years. When I see a leader exhibiting well-tuned curiosity, at least half my job is done.

Effective leadership is one of the skills in shortest supply in many organizations. In addition to understanding the organization and having the technical skills to succeed, a candidate must have empathy and team building ability. Leadership by personal example is the most effective form of leadership, inspiring others to do their best. Showing appreciation for hard work and results inspires loyalty. Corrective action, if necessary, should always be done one-on-one, not in front of co-workers. Praise and acknowledgement should be public and genuine. If the organization is large enough, several candidates with promise should be viewed as possible successors and offered the opportunity to understudy the current CEO.

Succession planning is good on paper but when it comes to execution, it often boils down to the " person" - the willingness also of the incumbent to build up the successor and let go. It has to be a mindset of abundance and not competition.

Developing others for leadership and leadership roles is one of the main responsibilities of any serving leader. Leadership is never down to one person alone, but is always a combination of efforts at any level of an organisation. To answer this question it is easier to focus on what it means to take up a leadership role. First, what are conditions that arise in a situation or system that creates the need - perceived or real- that leadership matters or can make a difference. Second, what are the expectations of leadership? Is the group or organisation looking to leadership because it itself cannot lead or own leadership choices? If a leader or leadership team is chosen or emerges, what are the conscious assumptions? What is unconscious?

Identifying potential successors for critical leadership roles begins with thoroughly assessing the talent pool. This involves evaluating performance, leadership potential, and alignment with organizational values and goals. Also, implement leadership development programs and mentorship initiatives to nurture and groom emerging leaders. By fostering a continuous learning and growth culture, we can ensure a robust pipeline of future leaders ready to take on key roles when the time comes.

In order for the organization to be successful, two levels of succession planning for all key positions should be available at HR. Once the list is prepared, most important fact that sometime gets left out is make the employees in the list aware of their potential growth within the company and provide them necessary leadership training. Also, start working on their retention.

Succession planning can only happen when solid long-term and short-term strategies are prepared, and well understood, and key buy-in is present from the board to operational levels. In the absence of this, it becomes a game of luck. Picking leaders is not an exact science however, you greatly improve your chances of picking a great one by having clarity of direction. Acting from a point of knowledge will help you know whom you need for what session of actualization of the strategy great leaders are a mix of hard competency, soft competencies, and continuous resilience. Great successors should have a mix of all three, to be more exact, the stage can even determine the percentage mix of the three.

Supervisors have a responsibility for becoming hyper aware of where their staff stands on the leadership spectrum between external leadership (tell me what to do) to participative leadership (I have some mastery and creativity) and personal leadership (I can do my boss’s job). As employees are moving up that spectrum, the supervisor must be creating new opportunities for them. That’s why ambitious professionals don’t stay long when their boss isn’t good enough to be promoted.

The best way to plan for the future is to invest into a leadership bench. They don’t have to be a perfect fit for the role but some sort of plan is better than no plan when a high level leader decides to leave. This will enable a positive leadership culture that always invests and build the future leadership team. Invest in a bench!

I've recognized the critical importance of succession planning. It's about foresight—identifying individuals not just with the right skills but with a shared vision for the future. By proactively mentoring potential leaders, we're not just filling a future gap; we're fostering an environment where leadership and innovation are everyone's responsibility. This approach ensures that when transitions happen, they're seamless, upholding the organization's performance and morale. In my experience, it’s this kind of forward planning that sustains movements and amplifies impact, even amidst change.

Identifying top talent is an art, as it requires a keen eye & understanding of an individual's capabilities & potential. While top performers may already be operating at their peak, it is crucial to recognize and nurture the potential. Foster a culture of continuous learning - Encourage employees to seek growth opportunities and develop new skills. Provide opportunities that can help individuals unlock their hidden potential. Encourage self-reflection and goal-setting: Encourage employees to reflect on their strengths, weaknesses, and long-term aspirations. And then, regularly talk As a leader, it is vital to stay engaged with your team, actively seek out talent, and provide the necessary support and opportunities for growth.

Beware of looking for a duplicate of yourself. That could easily disqualify others that may be great fits. My suggestion is to identify, with the help of mentors and others, what your own gaps are in the role. Then consider people who are strong in areas where you may have lacked. While I wouldn't focus on that alone, I'm proposing to keep those gaps in mind, because someone you thought may not be a good fit could very well be because they bring something you didn't to the role.

In addition to having the necessary abilities, skills, education, and experience needed, I always use the image of an ACE of Hearts when hiring. I look for leaders who have positive Attitudes, are highly Competent in their fields, and possess the Energy needed to lead and persist in difficult times. Then I look for leaders who approach each task with Heart - care and concern for both the institution and the people who work daily to achieve the institution's mission and goals.

In the VUCA world, high-potential leaders excel in the 5Cs: Creativity, Competence, Character, Compassion, and Commitment. Creative leaders innovate and solve complex problems. Competent leaders possess technical know-how and cultural insight to guide diverse global teams. Character-driven leaders earn trust through integrity. Compassionate leaders connect deeply with their teams, driving motivation and transformation. Committed leaders strive for personal and professional excellence. These leaders, achieve goals and transform their environments, fostering innovation and resilience. They turn challenges into collective successes. Spotting such leaders involves observing their growth, decision-making, achievement, and impact.

This may sound surprising to some but talent creativity and even the potential of genius are assessable. Researchers such professor @ToddLubart and others developed tests that do exactly that. And even in a friendly way. We live in an era where we know much more about the grid and pathway to talent. The only question is do we really care enough to get there? Do we wish to invest in raising gifted creative employees? Or just like in products, make them cheap and replicate. Do your soul searching and answer if you really need to assess potential. We at BEST have been boosting talents and creativity. Many thousands for thirty one years. Every single participant, for free, counts. And every one is unique. Have a wonderful holiday season.

Identifying hi-potential talent begins with defining and being transparent about what constitutes high-potential skills and behaviours. You may have folks in your organization who get results but abuse others through their toxic behaviours. Let's be clear these people are not high-potentials that your organization wants to promote. Implementing a 360-degree feedback program is a great way to weed out results-driven toxic people managers. Additionally, the program can safe-guard against the organization identifying high-potentials based on favouritism and cronyism. Conversely, the 360-degree feedback program can for example, identify talent who care and demonstrate the importance of equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility.

How I see someone, and how they see themselves, are often different. It's easy to assume someone has great potential or talent based on outcomes they have achieved, and then positioning them for new opportunities. Too often people are on a path doing what they're good at, but don't necessarily enjoy doing. Therefore it's important to check in with your future high-potential talent on what they have high energy for (aka passion/drive/motivation) AND are great at, making sure that aligns with the position. Talent identification isn't just your subjective/objective understanding. The individuals self vision also needs consideration or you'll have a leader whose motivation will eventually fade, impacting your people and business negatively.

The best way I have found to find the talent best suited for a key role progression is through 1:1 discussions that separate from their current positions and reassess their skill set aside from the current job description. For example, you can discuss previous experience and future interest in higher responsibility roles without discussing current performance. This may be difficult at first as the associate will tend to fixate on their current role and performance vs opening their perspective to a “what if” scenario. Often the best talent can be unlocked by showing that current roles don’t dictate either potential for elevated ones all of the time. By showing that we see value beyond the “now” can be impactful to unlock the talent.

When I work with organizations to identify high-potential talent, I use a combination of assessments. Starting with the DISC behavior model to understand workplace behaviors, we review annual performances, 360 feedback, and development plans, focusing on strengths, opportunities, motivators, and management preferences. Collaborating with leadership, we place each employee in the 9-box grid, a tool for assessing performance and potential. This biannual exercise, supported by ongoing manager-employee discussions, is key to developing and retaining top talent.

I would caution people from developing a succession plan around specific people. The reality is, people come and go as do their development aspirations. Even if someone aspires to take your role today, they may not be interested or able when the time comes. Furthermore, it’s completely possible your boss will want to go in a new direction upon your departure. In short, don’t create an environment where anyone is banking their career plans on taking your role. This honestly isn’t in their best interest professionally since there’s no guarantees it will happen. Instead, work on continually building new and existing skills with all your direct reports to prepare them for whatever next role is in their best interest when the time comes.

Often times we as leaders shy away from putting together a succession plan in place.. The minute we have to draft it, we may get defensive thinking that we are going to get "booted out" because of identifying a successor.. But the real trait of a strategic leader.. is to keep creating white spaces of operation for oneself which will take us away from the insecurity of holding onto the same job for 10+ and 20+ years together. Moving on, is the best way to move to as well.. once we understand this, we will be able to easily let go off things, without holding onto things to ourselves alone

Planning for succession is one of the key elements of leadership. However, I’ve been struck by how many organizations do not plan for succession. Identifying leadership abilities in others and providing them with the opportunity and resources to realize their true potential should be one of the primary goals of a leader. Leadership is not about the leader, it’s about cultivating pathways of growth for those you are leading within your organization. It’s about growing together. Leadership is allowing others to step up so that you can one day confidently step out. The most beautiful thing about my journey as a leader has been watching others succeed.

Importante ressaltar que este processo deve ter total transparência, todo o time deve estar ciente de quem são os sucessores a serem desenvolvidos e quais critérios foram avaliados para que possam buscar este desenvolvimento e fazer parte dessa linha no futuro.

A key to an effective succession plan in addition to the development goals, milestones, etc, is to understand what the position may evolve to during the defined timeline for the development. I have often seen the successor execute the plan just to see the role grow or take on new complexities. It needs to be living plan with clear and constant communication.

Is a succession plan sometimes just used to string someone along and keep them retained in their current role? I think if there is no fixed timeline then it runs that risk.

Um plano de sucessão para um líder é um processo estruturado que visa identificar e desenvolver potenciais sucessores dentro de uma organização. Ele tem como objetivo garantir uma transição tranquila. Uma vez que os candidatos em potencial são identificados, é importante desenvolver suas habilidades e competências necessárias para assumir uma posição de liderança. Isso pode envolver treinamentos, mentorias, programas de desenvolvimento, rotação de cargos e atribuição de projetos desafiadores.

Succession plans are potentially dangerous: - "I'm already destined for greatness; I can behave as I want because I'm entitled" - "They've earmarked my successor already - now I'm vulnerable" - "So-and-so is on the 'fast track' and I wouldn't want to work for them, so I'm off" - "I'm not on the 'fast track', so I'm off" -"Ooooh, look at the little teacher's pets on the 'fast track' program, off on another study trip / mini-MBA / expensive jolly, whilst the rest of us mere mortals do the work and shoulder the burden of the budget cuts" (I've heard all of these in my career!

Succession development is a strategic process that involves identifying and nurturing individuals within an organization to ensure a smooth transition of leadership roles when key positions become vacant. A robust succession development plan helps build a pipeline of talented individuals who are ready to assume critical roles. Succession development is an ongoing and dynamic process that requires commitment, adaptability, and a focus on building a pipeline of capable leaders. By investing in the development of high-potentials and implementing a strategic succession plan, organizations can ensure a steady supply of skilled leaders ready to take on key roles and drive the organization's success.

Developing a succession plan for key leadership roles involves a strategic process. Here are some steps to develop your succession plan: a) Identify Key Leadership Positions: Determine the key leadership positions in your organization that are critical to its operations. b) Create a Team: Form a small team from different departments to review each leadership position. Then assess job descriptions, key job functions, and responsibilities for each position. c) Identify Critical and Vulnerable Positions: Identify which leadership positions are most critical and vulnerable in your organization. Critical positions significantly impact a business’s operations when left unfilled, while vulnerable positions have no identifiable successor.

This is a very critical area in leadership development. Here, we need to document the entire succession plan journey which includes, the learning, empowering, guiding him through the voyage with stretched goals. Reviews on performance should also include his feedback discussion for any mid course corrections. The handover plan after hand holding must be seamless

Implementing and monitoring a succession plan for key leadership roles involves a strategic process. Here are some steps to implement and monitor your succession plan: 1) Begin Succession Planning Early: Start the succession planning process early to allow sufficient time for talent development. 2) Involve Leadership: Engage current leaders in the process to provide insights and guidance. 3) Implement the Plan: Once the succession plan is developed, it’s time to implement it. This involves nominating successors, creating an action plan to prepare successors, and starting the development process.

Follow-up is so important 1. Give a clear timeline 2. Expectations should be written down 3. Mid-timeline evaluations will clear up questions and confusion. This will also allow for course correction.

Succession plan can be tracked by events such as: How did the person handle responsibility When did you see the change in thought process Did we make the most of the coaching opportunities and when did you see the coaching realised How did people react to success and failure both Clarity of thought regarding the strategic initiatives

Here's my advice: 1. Customized Development: Tailor your development activities to the unique needs and goals of each successor. There's no one-size-fits-all approach to leadership. 2. Diverse Learning Mix: Blend formal training, coaching, mentoring, feedback, exposure, and stretch assignments. This variety fosters well-rounded growth. 3. Continuous Support: Regularly provide support and guidance to potential successors. They should never feel alone on their development journey. 4. Recognition: Celebrate milestones and achievements. Recognition is a powerful motivator that fuels ambition. 5. Feedback Loop: Establish a feedback loop. Regularly assess progress, adapt strategies, and refine the plan as needed.

Implementing a succession plan is a critical aspect of organizational strategy, ensuring that there is a pipeline of qualified individuals ready to assume key roles as needed. Monitoring the succession plan is equally important to assess its effectiveness and make the necessary adjustments. Implementation and monitoring of a succession plan in organizations can build a robust pipeline of talent, ensure a smooth leadership transition, and contribute to long-term organizational success.

Tailor development efforts to individual needs and goals, encompassing formal training, coaching, mentoring, feedback, exposure, and stretch assignments. Offer consistent support, guidance, and recognition for achievements. Regularly assess the succession plan using both quantitative and qualitative data to ensure its ongoing effectiveness, relevance, and impact. This dynamic approach fosters adaptability and continuous improvement in grooming future leaders.

Si se crea el plan y no hay seguimiento, se perdió el tiempo. Crear el plan requiere tener una revisión frecuente para evaluar el avance: 1. Fijar la frecuencia de reuniones de seguimiento del plan. 2. Establecer las personas que estarán involucradas para el desarrollo exitoso del plan. 3. Definir acciones claras con fechas para hacer el seguimiento más efectivo. 4. Que los sucesores se sientan parte del proceso por convicción y no por obligación de cumplir un proceso es esencial. 5. Ir identificando las posibles brechas que van a apareciendo en el camino para ajustar las acciones o establecer nuevas. Es importante que sea ejecutado como un plan de mentoría bidireccional para mayor efectividad.

In the military - a Recruit prepares to go through it (learns), a Soldier goes through it (experiences), a Veteran has been through it (can be a trainer). As a civilian - a Candidate prepares for a career (seeks what he/she needs), an Employee learns (gains experience), a Leader develops (can be a mentor). Identify which step you are in. Remember school teaches rules, experience teaches exceptions. Pay attention to how you are reviewed and when you may go from feedback like this: "You've received an accommodation for your work, good job!" to "We'd like you to head this committee" or "We think you would be good at training this class". Pay attention to your reviews and how your organization (co-workers and leaders) responds to your work.

Pude aprender muito com esta experiência, o que tornou o meu dia-a-dia mais desafiador, pois acabamos exercendo constantemente mentorias ao candidato.

When looking for a successor - and for hiring in general - look beyond the obvious choices. Challenge yourself to not just look at who makes sense for the present, but who has the knowledge and skills to lead into the future. You may likely return to your first choice, but the exercise will broaden your options and expectations.

Identifying potential successors involves a multifaceted approach. Utilizing talent assessments, performance reviews, and leadership development programs. Implementing, integrating and utilizing your competency framework in the process and in your succession planning and related assessments. Furthermore, fostering a culture of continuous learning, encouraging communication about employees career aspirations, and providing training and development opportunities to minimize gaps and ensure readiness are key success factors. Collaboration and understanding between HR, managers, and employees is equally crucial. Regularly and periodically review and update succession plans to adapt to changing needs and to ensure alignment.

In addition to the valuable opinions mentioned. It’s crucial to maintain non bias in selecting our successors, people who are “similar” to us are not necessarily suitable for the next phase where different business strategies might be needed.

Additionally, leverage technology and innovation to enhance your programs, incorporating tools for real-time feedback, virtual mentoring, and personalized learning experiences. This forward-thinking approach ensures that your leadership development initiatives remain dynamic and aligned with the ever-changing landscape of business and leadership.

All of the above. And I would also consider the candidate's people skills and emotional intelligence, ability to work under stress, communication skills among various other factors.

Analyze your current and future requirements in accordance with the company's objectives. Discover leadership qualities in individuals, guarantee that your future leaders are strong cultural ambassadors, provide mentorship and coaching, and regularly evaluate performance and potential.

I learnt very early in my career that we can grow only when we create a successor in another person. This stuck with me for the better part of my banking career. Training a promising team member did the job for me most times. This team member feels empowered to take on my routine tasks and that freed up a lot of time for me for other important projects even before the person took my position.

Identify Critical and Vulnerable Positions: Identify which leadership positions are most critical and vulnerable in your organization. Critical positions significantly impact a business’s operations when left unfilled, while vulnerable positions have no identifiable successor

What I've found when a part of large companies/institutions is the value of implementing a talent development program. Offer leadership training, mentorship, and exposure to diverse projects. Encourage continuous learning through workshops and conferences. Foster a culture of feedback and growth, enabling potential successors to refine their skills. This not only prepares them for leadership roles but also strengthens their commitment to the organization's success.

Uma boa idéia é considerar a análise do perfil comportamental dos talentos em potencial. Já tive a experiência de colocar a pessoa certa no lugar errado e mo momento errado e isso quase me custou um bom profissional, porém o acompanhamento é as conversas de follow up me permitirá identificar esta falha e fazer uma alocação correta que rendeu bons frutos para empresa e para o colaborador. Outro ponto é entender por meio de uma conversa de conexão aliada ao resultado do perfil comportamental, se está pessoa realmente que se desenvolver nesta vertente da liderança, pois um erro muito comum é promover um excelente operacional a um cargo de liderança sem as devidas análises das competências já mencionadas. É uma questão de responsabilidade.