1. SUCCESSION PLANNING: WHO WILL LEAD?

2. Let me introduce myself:
I'm Dr. Amanda N Gibson, consultant in Management and Leadership, professor, author and speaker.
My books:
Succession Planning In Nonprofits: The Distance Between
What We Know and What We Do
Nonprofit Realities Everybody Must Face;
both available at Amazon.com
With a diverse and successful global career encompassing multiple industries and continents, I differentiated myself as an internationalist and global professional; including living and working abroad with multi-national companies. As a senior professional, I’ve proven global success in the deployment of modern leadership, organizational development and management tools and techniques, as well as significant strategic and operational
experience in both for-profit and non-for-profit companies.

3. Learning Objectives
Identify which roles require succession planning and why.
Identify best practices in succession planning.
Size appropriate strategies for leader development and talent management.
Initiate a succession policy (to include consideration
of interim leadership).

4. Why Plan for Succession?
Minimizes risk
Maximizes opportunity
Supports organizational sustainability

5. Background: Lessons Learned
Thoughtful succession planning prepares an organization for leadership transitions, expected or unexpected
Lack of succession planning can result in a post-transition meltdown
With a long-term executive a successful leadership transition requires a lot more up-front preparation than the five months required for search and screening. 5

6. Who Needs It?
Boards of Directors
Executives
Key Leaders

7. – serves as a statement of commitment to:
The Succession Policy
– serves as a statement of commitment to:
Outline the process of planned departure
Prepare for inevitable leadership changes
Assess leadership needs before beginning a search
Appoint interim leadership (as appropriate) to ensure continuity and stability

8. Critical Planning Elements
Succession Essentials
Succession Policy and Emergency Backup
Leader Development & Talent Management
Ongoing talent development and investment tied to your strategic goals
Departure Defined Succession Planning
Pre-transition planning (1 – 3 years
in advance)

9. Benefits of Succession Planning
Aligns staff development with strategic vision
Builds leadership capacity of staff
Makes the top position more “doable”
Engages and reassures the board
Gives confidence to funders

10. Succession Policy Content Focuses on both transition and search
Organizational assessment
Transition/search committee
Succession procedures
Consideration of interim
Internal candidates
Search Plan

11. Importance and Conclusions
Leaders tend to focus on more immediate goals
Non-profit leaders are able to define the requirements for a successor
Leaders are aware how challenging a transition is
Non-profit leaders see succession planning as Board’s task
Importance & Conclusions –
The analysis for this study revealed several findings, which were not previously found in the literature. Non-profit leaders interviewed for this study expressed, directly or indirectly, the tendency to focus on more immediate goals, and that succession planning at their level means ensuring coverage for mid-management positions.
Another conclusion of this study is that non-profit leaders are capable of articulating what should be the requirements for a successor, and how challenging a transition can be. Therefore succession planning is important and all organizations should have a written plan, involving various stakeholders, in order to minimize the difficulties when the transition moment comes.
The most relevant fact discovered through the present study is that non-profit leaders consider that succession planning is a Board task and are reticent to initiate the process. The study is therefore significant in showing the need for present leaders to share their opinions and experiences with their Boards, and plan together for succession.

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