Succession Plan

A succession plan for a specific critical role or leadership position identifies the internal candidates who could fill the role if it became vacant — assessing each candidate's current readiness, identifying their development gaps, and describing the development actions that would accelerate their readiness. It is the operational document that translates succession planning strategy into individual development commitments: a succession plan that lists names without development plans is a directory, not a plan. The most important succession plan review practice is currency: succession plans reviewed and updated annually reflect departures, promotions, and development progress; those reviewed less frequently drift from reality and fail to identify the gaps created when previously identified successors leave or are promoted out of the pipeline.