Succession Planning is an oft-forgotten but critical task for every MD and manager

Succession planning can really ruin your own career. And this hits right when you are planning to move on to bigger and greater things. If you dont manage a smooth succession into your position, then your new position will have a black mark.

Here's a very interesting article on how succession planning is being handled in firms. I quote:

The king of modern business, Jack Welch, asked three top executives to
compete to succeed him as chief executive of General
Electric. The three – Jim McNerney, Bob Nardelli and Jeff Immelt,
the eventual winner – had to demonstrate “courageous advocacy”, comfort
“operating under a microscope” and the “stomach to play for high stakes”. They
also had to play golf with members of the board.

But the evidence suggests outside recruits have a higher failure rate.
Booz Allen Hamilton, the consulting firm, found that outsiders were more likely
to be fired than insiders. Of North American chief executives who left their
companies in 2003, 55 per cent of the outside recruits were forced out, compared
with 34 per cent of the insiders. In Europe it was even worse: 70 per cent of
the departing outsiders were fired, compared with 55 per cent of the
insiders.

It is a good idea for companies to start the succession process early.
That way they do not have to make panicked calls to the headhunters when they
have a sudden vacancy at the top. In his book, Jack: Straight from the Gut, Mr
Welch says he launched the search for his successor seven years before his
retirement date. GSK spent several years on the task too.

It is also a bad idea to groom just one successor, who could fall ill,
die or decide not to take the job after all.

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!