The Board’s Forgotten Responsibility

— by Peter Greer

Recently, I’ve seen several organizations that I care about misstep in the succession process, sometimes unraveling years of progress and positive impact. These situations prompted me to question what more I could do to help HOPE International prepare for this moment. While there are no plans for my departure, I know that I am one day closer to succession than I was yesterday.

Over the past few months, Doug Fagerstrom, Brianna Lapp, and I partnered together to better understand how to effectively plan for succession. In our research, we interviewed dozens of leaders and board members from a variety of sectors who experienced a succession. We’re grateful for the candid ways they shared their successes, but even more significantly, their regrets, failures, and lessons learned. Their courage allowed us to learn from their wins and even more from their missteps.

We compiled our research in our new book, Succession: Seven Practices to Navigate Mission-Critical Leadership Transitions, where we discuss both the heart postures and practices necessary for healthy transitions. Our hope is that this book would be a concise, biblically grounded, actionable resource to help board members and leaders prepare now for inevitable successions down the road.

We were surprised to learn that just 17% of organizations have a documented succession plan. This is shocking, given that 100% of leaders will eventually transition!

Every leader is an interim leader. One day, we will all leave our roles, and the question is whether or not we will be prepared when that moment arrives. If you are not planning for this critical juncture, this moment of transition can derail an entire organization.

If you are a board member, planning and preparing for leadership transitions long before that moment arrives is one of your most important roles.

Phil Clemens serves on the board of a dozen organizations and summarizes, “The board has two primary roles: protecting the mission and hiring the CEO. Succession planning is one of the two critical roles of a board, yet we often don’t spend sufficient time in this significant role.”

Leaders have a central role to play in preparing for transition, but it is ultimately the responsibility of the board to own the succession planning process—even if the leader is doing well in his or her role and even if there are no immediate plans for transition.

What actionable steps can board members take now to plan for a successful leadership succession?

• Make space for the conversation. At least annually, are you engaging the entire board in candid discussions about mission stewardship and a leadership contingency plan? Every year, the HOPE board of directors asks me for the names of five people—internally and externally—who could take over the president & CEO role in my absence. If you are a board member, are you actively and openly talking about succession planning?

• Invest in leadership development. Even if succession is not on the immediate time horizon, is there a clear plan in place for staff to grow and develop into more senior leadership positions? Succession planning is ultimately about the habits and practices of leadership development.

• Create an emergency succession plan and a long-term succession plan. Instead of waiting to plan for a succession until the moment it’s required, take the time to develop, refine, and discuss both emergency and long-term succession plans each year. These plans should include a clear communication plan for all stakeholders.

It takes courage to look beyond the confines of the current priorities, the strategic objectives, and the current leader, but if we care about the mission, we will actively and intentionally plan for the moment of succession. Let’s work to ensure more than 17% of us are prepared to pass the baton well.

This article was originally published here by Peter K Greer

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[ Photo by Dane Deaner on Unsplash ]