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Many companies have good leadership in place. But things can change. We refer to these type of changes as opportunities, because with proper planning, management roles can actually be improved. So what circumstances can lead to Management Succession? Some of the most common ones are: The manager is considering retirement. The individual has become maxed out from having responsibilities added to their position over the years. The manager is in the wrong seat. Maybe they were promoted at some point, but wasn’t impactful in the position. Perhaps it is just time to separate. Plan for retirement: If a company has a management team with managers who are age 55 or older, it is important to have a succession plan for them. Everyone wants to retire at some point. These older employees will do that when the time is right. Plan for maxed out: Often a manager takes on additional responsibilities over a period of time for a variety of reasons. Perhaps employees have moved on and temporary responsibilities have become permanent. Once a manager is maxed out, it can lead to resentment, stress, health issues and even quitting their position. Plan for the wrong seat: When an employee is in the wrong seat, the company suffers as does the employee. An example might be promoting a good salesperson to sales manager and finding that the sales skills the individual had, don’t translate into being a good manager. Planning to fix a wrong seat issue can be complicated but the sooner it is addressed the better for all concerned. The best way to start a succession plan is by building the scorecard of the manager’s responsibilities. Look at responsibilities that could be handled by others who report to the manager. Next you’ll want have a plan in place of how you will replace the manager (hire from within or bring in new talent) and what skill sets will be needed to fulfill the responsibilities on the scorecard. Having this succession plan in place helps leaders sleep at night, knowing what to do when the time comes. Coming next week: Succession Of Key Positions In A Company.

Succession Of The Founder/CEO Succession Planning is the process of planning for a leader or key employee who may one day leave the organization. There are 3 categories or pillars of succession. These include: Succession of the Company Founder/CEO Succession of Senior Management Succession of Key Talent While many leaders look at leadership succession, in the current hiring environment it is also important to look at all 3 pillars. Founders and CEOs have several options for succession. Some reasons they may consider stepping back from their leadership role include: Burnout Too involved in the day-to-day operations Inability to do the things they really enjoy Desire to have more personal time Their options include retirement, selling the business, quitting or putting together a plan for their continued involvement that allows he or she to redefine their role. Leaders who choose this option get to choose their role and responsibilities while pulling back from the operations side of their business. An important part of successfully implementing a plan like this is to bring in a strong #2. This position is often titled, Chief of Staff or Operations, IntegratorTM, General Manager and others. Some leaders change their role to Chairman and name their 2nd in command President. There are excellent examples of successful leaders who had a strong #2. Warren Buffet had Charlie Munger, Marc Zuckerberg had Sheryl Sandberg, and Steve Jobs had Steve Wozniak to name a few. Developing a successful plan for Leadership Succession includes the following steps: Defining the #1’s job going forward. Moving everything else to the new #2 and developing a Scorecard to gauge their success for both the #2 and #1. Planning an onboarding process for the new #2. Have ongoing coaching for both to ensure a successful transition of leadership. Coming next week: Succession Of Senior Management.