Not Buggins’ turn any more

We used to say in Britain that most jobs were passed on to Buggins because it was “Buggins’ turn”. Too often true. The top job is not a reward, it is a challenge. Filling top jobs is less ‘Buggins’s turn’ today. There are many enlightened appointments made. But still not as many as are needed.

“Nothing succeeds like success.” Succession planning doesn’t, unfortunately, have this record. Even in the best organised societies the demands of Covid, workplace changes, new business responsibilities and the constant rise against authority – especially by the social media – all leave the definition and demands of the next leadership job as a sandcastle of unstable requirements.

You must plan for both leadership and war. But both plans won’t exactly happen. Strategic planning equips you to decide action when tactics of the plan are overturned by events. Why does succession planning so often fail? Because interviewers consider the politics of the situation and not the requirements for the next leader, especially his or her ability to forecast.

Difficult forecasting leads to undue dependence on experience. Financial advisors tell us that the past is no predictor of the future. And yet, most interviews with a potential successor are reruns of the CV, with a question or two on attitude. How many interviews test quick response thinking – a prime consideration for eligibility to succeed. When are candidates’ attitudes sought to the issues of the day? Very seldom. But the incumbent has to deal with these from the moment s/he is appointed.

Here is a checklist of points you should cover when interviewing a potential successor.

Interviews are recorded. Applicants will receive a copy of the recording.

What do you know about the business / section of the business you are being considered to lead?

How does that knowledge affect the plan you will build to guide your new area of responsibility?

When will you have your strategic plan for the business ready for your board?

What is your attitude to honesty in business versus the compelling need to maximise profit?

There are many guidelines for running the business for which you are being considered. How will you treat those guidelines, bearing in mind that they are not law, simply guidelines?

What will you do to make the business more sustainable, with a lower carbon footprint?

What steps will you take to ensure increasing diversity among your board members, managers and other employees?

How will you demonstrate fairness of judgment to your subordinates?

Complete the following statements:

I like the culture of the business I run to be…

I expect my boss to be…

I deal with my peers by…

I handle my employees with…

I will not join a business that…

KPIs are for…

Reviews of employees with their boss should be…

In a crisis I am generally…

Climate damage will affect the business you are considering me for because…

The most fundamental changes in business in the last few years that I have observed are…

There are many more questions you can ask. These will tell you about how the manager you are appointing sees others and himself.

It’s the heart of a senior appointment.