The Day the Plan Gets Tested

A VP in a critical role unexpectedly left.

I thought we were good. We had four identified successors. Two were ready now.

The CHRO called the headhunter.

We hired externally. It took four months to find the right replacement.

I have worked in succession planning for nearly 15 years. I have built the grids. I have facilitated the talent reviews. I have helped plot the names. And I keep seeing the same thing.

A leader leaves. The plan stays in the folder. The search firm gets a call.

Most organizations have a succession plan. Very few have a succession reality.

​Download the handout here.​

The Numbers Are Not Subtle

At this month's ATDOrgDev Conference, I presented on why succession planning fails. Here is the backdrop. According to Challenger, Gray and Christmas, CEO departures rose 16% in 2024, and 44% of new CEOs were hired from outside. Those organizations had successors on paper. They went external anyway.

Project Next Leadership asked leaders to grade their own succession process. The average score was a failing one at 5.5 out of 10.

We are spending hours on something we do not trust.

None of this is new. Here is what is new.

What I Heard in the Other Rooms

​Kristi Broom shared how AI is becoming a labor source, and organizations are deciding which work is for AI and which is for people. Coordination and routing work is moving to AI. Tracking performance, accountability, and developing people stay human. She also suggested organizations will flatten and some management layers may collapse.

Sit with that for a minute.

Managers are where leaders get built. They give the stretch assignments. They notice the quiet high performer with potential. They have the hard conversation about what is next.

If layers thin out, the pipeline does not just get shorter. It gets harder to see.

The Skills That Define "Ready" Just Changed

Kristi also framed five capabilities that stay human in AI-shaped decisions: delegation, empathy, curiosity, discernment, and judgment. Discernment is choosing what matters. Judgment is making the high-stakes call. Both skills will need upgrading as we move forward with AI.

Now compare that list to your last talent review. Were you rating those? Or were you rating last year's results?

James Clear puts it this way: "You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems." A succession plan is a goal. Succession readiness is a system.

Four Pivots, Plus One Honest Question

In my session, I shared four pivots for modern succession:

• Future-proof the plan. Stop asking who replaces this role. Ask which leadership capabilities the strategy needs in three to five years.
• Prepare talent, do not just assess it. Invest in experiences and exposure, not another round of ratings.
• Create leadership producers. Senior leaders develop talent for the whole enterprise, not only their own team.
• Make it continuous. Review pipelines and development progress regularly, not once a year.

The honest question is this: if managers have less time and fewer layers, who is doing the developing? That is the gap I would work on first.

Try This in the Next 90 Days

• Pick the one pivot that would help your organization most.
• Take one action. Add succession to an existing leadership meeting. Move one high potential into a cross-functional stretch role. Rate your bench on future capabilities, not current performance.
• After the stretch assignment, debrief using four questions: What did you notice? Gut: what did you like or dislike? Brain: so what, and what was the value? Now what: how will you use this in your own work?

​Katrina Kennedy reminded me: Reflection is how experience turns into readiness. Do not skip it.

One Last Thing

The goal is not a succession plan.

The goal is succession readiness.

Succession planning is not about predicting the future. It is about preparing people to meet it.

Three Ways We Can Work Together

• Let's talk about succession readiness. I can help you pressure-test your plan and build a 90-day action list.
• Reach out for a FREE 30-minute coaching session. I love supporting you on your journey.
• Join Collective Career Lab, my passion project, to get ready for job interviews.

Reflect: If a key leader left next week, who would you call first? Is that person on your plan? Is that person ready, or just familiar?

Reply and tell me what you find. I read and respond to everyone.

Regina