Developing Others as Leaders

5.2 Discussion. Leadership Succession

Getting Started

This week’s discussion topic focuses on the topic of leadership succession. Board and Administrator (2019) magazine touched on the practical elements of succession planning during a discussion with Sonia Handhorth-Kome, an executive director of succession planning. According to Handforth-Kome, succession planning includes the continuous development of staff, mentoring of employees, and competitive hiring. During the interview, Handhorth-Kome said she believes “all leaders, at all levels of the organization, should be continually looking for and developing the skills and knowledge of the person or persons in the organization who can replace them," (Board and Administrator, 2019, para. 13). As leaders, it is crucial to understand how leadership development impacts leadership succession as well as overall organizational health and performance.

References

Explore the complexities of succession planning. (2019). Board & Administrator: For Administrators Only, 36(3), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1002/ban.30990

Upon successful completion of this discussion, you will be able to:

· Explain how leadership succession links to organizational health and performance.

· Identify how leadership development impacts the organization over multiple leader generations.

Background Information

As you get started this week, take some time to review McClement’s (2017) work " How to Build the Pipeline for Executive Succession(new tab) " and Hansen’s (2013) “ Seven Steps for Effective Leadership Development(new tab) .” You may want to keep these articles handy as you prepare for your scholarly paper on succession later in this workshop.

References

Hansen, J. (2013). Seven steps for effective leadership development. Human Resources Magazine, 18(5), 14–17. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=bth&AN=126380262&authtype=shib&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=s8876267&profile=edsocls&scope=site 

McClements, L. (2017). How to build the pipeline for executive succession. Governance Directions, 69(10), 616–618. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=bth&AN=93307351&authtype=shib&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=s8876267&profile=edsocls&scope=site

Instructions

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.

2. Review the information in the Getting Started and Background Information sections.

3. In your initial discussion post (250-300 words), based upon your reading and review, consider how a leader can contribute to their organization by reproducing generations of leaders.

a. Why is developing others important for organizational health and performance?

b. How does leadership development impact the organization over multiple leader generations? 

c. What do leaders need to consider when they are preparing others to take over for them?

4. Post your initial posting no later than Day 4 of the workshop week.

5. Respond to at least two others’ postings (150-200 words each) on two different days (starting the day after your initial post through the end of the workshop week). Simply responding with a sentence that reflects agreement with others’ postings is not an acceptable response. Instead, be sure to advance the discussion based on the assigned material or credible resources you have found elsewhere. In other words, build upon what has been posted so that our collective learning is enriched.

6. Be sure to incorporate at least two additional sources beyond assigned material in this course.

7. All postings should be thoughtful, but succinct. Please remember to cite your work where appropriate ( APA, 7th ed.(new tab) ).