Succession planning, like any business acumen, is both an art and a science. That is to say, there are many proven strategies that can and must be followed so that successful transition can occur.

Too often organizations address the succession challenge through the rearview mirror. They wait for someone to step down or even worse, be removed. Then and only then do they entertain thoughts of who or what should happen next?

One of the reasons little forethought is given to succession is evident in the fact that it rarely shows up in corporate business plans. Companies are quite diligent in forecasting-out 3, 5 and even 10-years but most of what they plan has more to do with finance, P&L, product evolution and little or no emphasis on who or how future leaders will captain the corporate ship.

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