Great leaders prepare well for succession

In case you have never heard of him, John the Baptist, also known as John the Forerunner, was a blood relative of Jesus Christ through his mother Elizabeth whom biblical scholars describe as related to Mary, mother of Jesus.

John, who lived in the early first century AD, was a rebel.

He was a self-proclaimed prophet of God who lived in the wilderness of Judah and baptized his followers in the waters of the river Jordan.

Over his years of living and preaching in the wilderness John acquired a large followership and drew the attention not only of the average person but also of priests, Pharisees and even of Herod Antipas, the Roman ruler of Galilee, who it is said had great respect and fear of him.

A great feature in the story of John the Baptist was that all through his time living and preaching as a man of God in the wilderness he echoed a constant message to his followers to the effect that there was someone far greater than him in holy might and stature who was on his way to take over the role of messianic prophecy from him, and that although he did not know who that person was, he would recognise him once he set eyes on him. And so, it came to be that when Jesus himself made his way down to the river Jordan, John instantly recognised him as that ‘someone’. What followed next has been widely quoted in the scriptures; John offered himself to Jesus for baptism, but Jesus declined, instead asking John’s favour in his own baptism which John offered in full humility. In doing so, John recognised that his work in preaching salvation was coming to an end and that he should, and would, give up the responsibility and spotlight to Jesus, and this he did in saying the famous words, “He must become greater; I must become less”.

Anticipating and facilitating succession from own leadership is one of the most important but least thought and followed through attributes of good leaders today. Many a leader in these times forget that after spending considerable time and effort building legacy the only way to ensure that it lasts is by grooming and eventually passing on the leadership baton to the next in line to build onto your mission.

Maintaining and building onto legacy though is only one of the several benefits that good corporate succession planning brings with it. Where succession planning is done well, employees tend to perform well as they prepare to take over positions that they are being prepared for. This has the positive impact of driving up staff motivation and overall performance as well as reduction of staff turnover and flight risk. Furthermore, organisational stakeholders tend to show more trust in the leadership of companies that engage in this practice because they can rest safe in the knowledge that skills are being proactively passed from one generation of leaders to another and because this is the case they know that the organisation will spend less time and effort in filling vacant positions. This is because filling those positions internally costs much less than having to go through head hunting and external recruitment. Most importantly though (and selfishly I may add), as a corporate leader, you are never truly released into higher positions of responsibility until you have taken the time and effort to groom a successor whom the organisation feels comfortable with. Succession planning therefore goes a long way in releasing you for faster career growth.

The big trick with successful planning for succession lies in early identification of a suitable successor. Identifying the right successor early in the day gives plenty of time for the organisation to start the investment process that will be required to prepare them for the role they are to take over. The methods of identification vary from organisation to organisation, but all revolve around the process of seeking out those employees who are most engaged and that demonstrate the most potential for growth beyond their current roles. Once identified, the ‘investment’ process begins with gauging the competence gaps that they need to fill before they are ready for the bigger role and setting out a plan to close those gaps. A good practice to follow as the individuals get closer and closer to filling those competence gaps is to go through the handover gradually. This could be done by passing on to them some aspects of the role they are to graduate into in the form of specific projects that they would take responsibility for.

If done well, the practice of succession planning could end up becoming the single most important element of an organisation’s culture because of its ability to future proof the organisation from potential leadership gaps. Furthermore, as individuals, we leave lasting memories with the people that we groom and eventually hand over to, like in the case of the handover between John and Jesus where, in Luke 7:28, Jesus declared John the Baptist to be the greatest man to have ever lived when he said; “I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John”. This was probably in reference to his baptism by John which signified the moment of the succession handover.