Succession planning is often reduced to a document: a grid of roles and names, reviewed once a year. The document rarely survives contact with events. What holds up better is a process that produces candid assessment and a realistic view of the market.
Start with strategy, not with names
The question is not who could replace the current incumbent, but what the role will require in two or three years. A business moving into a new market, or through an integration, may need a different profile from the one currently in post.
Assess readiness honestly
Internal candidates are often described in terms of potential rather than evidence. It helps to distinguish between executives who are ready now, those who would be ready with a defined exposure, and those whose readiness is speculative. That conversation is uncomfortable, and it is the part that makes the plan useful.
Develop the specific gap
Where an internal executive is two years from readiness, the useful question is what experience would close the gap: a P&L they have not held, a market they have not entered, a function they have not led. Development without that specificity tends to become general.
Keep the external view alive
A pipeline confined to internal candidates is a pipeline with a fixed ceiling. Understanding the external market — who is doing comparable work, at what scale, and in what conditions — gives a board a realistic view of its options, and often changes how internal readiness is judged.
Protect the confidentiality of the process
Succession conversations are among the most sensitive in an organisation. Whether a person is aware of being considered, and what has been communicated to them, should be a deliberate decision rather than an accident of process.
Review it as events change
Succession plans age quickly. A change of strategy, a departure, or an acquisition can invalidate the assumptions behind them. A short review at defined intervals is usually more valuable than a longer exercise conducted annually.
The test of a pipeline
A credible pipeline allows a board to answer three questions without hesitation: which roles are exposed, who could step in now, and what the external option looks like. If any of those answers is unclear, the plan needs work — before the vacancy, not after it.