Leadership and Life Essentials: Who's Next? Building Your Leadership Pipeline Before You Need It

Tell me, does this situation sound familiar? A key person gives you their resignation on a Friday afternoon.

There's no warning, no lead-up conversation, just a resignation letter and a couple weeks notice.

You're stunned.

You didn't see it coming.

By Monday morning, you're in full scramble mode, trying to figure out who can even step into that role.

You know there's talent on the team, but you never made a plan for who would take over.

You hadn't had career path discussions, and you certainly hadn't identified who might even be interested.

So the job goes to the first person you can think of.

Maybe that's the person who's been there the longest.

Maybe it's the one who happened to raise their hand in the moment.

Oh, crisis averted.

Except not really.

For about a month, it seems like it's working.

Phew.

Then the cracks start showing.

Uh-oh.

Missed deadlines, a team that seems unsettled, a new leader who looks exhausted every time you pass their desk.

You keep hoping it'll get better, but it doesn't really.

That scramble is quite common, but it's also avoidable.

Not creating a succession plan costs you, and it costs you more than you even realize.

Creating that plan and ensuring that you're ready is quite doable and not nearly as overwhelming as you think.

Let's start with the cost, because this is what gets underestimated all the time, and the obvious cost is that panic promote pattern.

Someone leaves, and instead of a thoughtful decision, you make a fast one, a knee-jerk reaction.

You pick whoever's available, whoever's been around the longest, whoever seems like the safe choice in the moment.

Sometimes it works out fine, but a lot of the time it really doesn't, because being ready for promotion and being available for one are different.