Update to: Why Leadership Succession Planning Fails and How to Fix It

weormond
Sep 6
1 min read

Updated: Oct 5

Org chart with avatars on a blue background. Top leader is female. Multiple tiers show diverse team structure. Arrow highlights one role. — Succession Planning Often Fails

Most leadership succession planning efforts don’t work.

Leadership Succession Planning: Building Capacity Beyond the Checklist

In our experience, effective leadership succession planning isn’t just about identifying who’s next but about preparing the organization to support that transition. Too often, critical success factors aren’t defined, leaders aren’t taught how to build great teams and identifying top talent becomes an annual “checkbox” exercise with little follow-up or follow-though.

Succession done right is not just about a name in a box, it’s about building leadership capacity across the organization. When you prepare the organization and team as much as the individual, leader transitions don’t just fill gaps, they drive better organizational performance and results.

If your organization is treating succession like an annual checklist, it’s probably already

behind.