Executive Succession

Sadly, I read news accounts of accidental deaths where not only families are affected by the loss of their loved ones, but organizations are deprived of their leaders. A recent article on this subject caught my attention, and prompted me to post a plea to others.

You may have read about this, or a similar incident, in the news recently. An aircraft carrying the top executives of two companies crashed, killing nearly all of the passengers and crew members onboard. In such a tragic occurrence, so many family members, relatives, and friends are affected. Separate and apart from this grieving, certain mechanisms may or may not be in place within the companies and organizations also affected by the loss of these key executives and their dependents. It becomes clear that the question of succession needs to be immediately addressed.

Succession planning should be an important ingredient in any organizational strategy. Many questions arise from the moment the news of an unexpected incident is broadcast. Employees want to know how they will be personally impacted...investors and creditors have concerns as to the viability of the operations...customers of the companies want reassurances that products and services will continue to be delivered. As cold as some of that may sound, it is a hard economic reality.

There are many sources of information available on the subject of succession planning, but chief executives and boards of directors in all organizations should address the potential problems. One of the ways to do that would be to retain a consultant to conduct an analysis and deliver recommendations to the organization's board of directors. Depending on the size of the company, retaining a firm which has executive management expertise in the same industry would be a very cost-effective option. Consulting firms which can provide an Interim CEO, Interim CFO, or Interim CTO should be in every company's Rolodex.

MM
CEO 24/7