Leading for Legacy: Building Two of You Before You Go
To paraphrase the late great Ben Franklin, “nothing is certain, but death and taxes,” and I would add, “Senior Executive turn-over!”
Our best people move up and move on. What isn’t as certain is how well we prepare people for those moves. And, how well we prepare organizations before they lose top talent.
With the inevitable ageing-out of the Baby Boomers and even some Generation X-ers, 1600 last year alone, according to Challenger, Gray, Christmas, Inc., it behooves every organization or corporation to be planful years in advance…yes, years before they think they need to fill senior leadership positions.
At the Prouty Project, we work with hundreds of leadership teams a year and we have a favorite coaching tip we like to pass on to their key leaders:
“You Can’t Leave Without Building Two of You Before You Go!”
This tactic does two important things:
- It prepares bench strength to fill in leadership gaps by imparting critical behaviors and implicit leadership mindset to the next generation, before the key leaders leave.
- It reignites the energies of our top leaders back into their own organizations before they leave by asking them to teach customer-focus, subject matter expertise and old-fashioned communication skills rather than idle away their last days.
Win-Win:
Before McDonald’s CEO Jim Cantalupo retired, he focused on developing Charles Bell and James Skinner as his successors. That move was critical since Bell’s health took a turn for the worse and Skinner was ready to step in immediately to fill the gap.
At General Mills, Tim Coats, the former VP of Worldwide Sourcing, with two years to go before his retirement, handpicked three exceedingly talented people to replace him. Only one of them would get his job, but by developing these three to take on his role, he was assured the succession would go more smoothly and the organization would be left in good hands.
Look around you—Who is likely to leave your organization in the next 3 years?
Next Question—Who can you start developing now to set them up for success in that role?
Remember—One is good. Two is better!