Before I stepped into my first Executive leadership role at NASA, I read that you should start preparing successors day one on the job. So, when I became HR Director, I developed a plan to have a pool of people ready to succeed me. My leadership team balked at the idea, saying, “You’re not going anywhere any time soon.”
Fortunately, I didn’t listen to the resistance, and I’m pleased to say that today—less than five years after my first Executive promotion—three of my former leadership team members fill HR Executive roles at NASA (along with me, we comprise more than 25% of our Executive Leadership Team)!
As a leader, I can truly attest—a focus on succession is, as John Maxwell wrote earlier this year, The Leader’s Greatest Return!
I’ve summarized other books on succession in the past:
In his book The Succession Principle, David McKenna helps us recognize that “our greatest legacy is to leave a place better than we found it: better resourced, better focused, and better aligned to guarantee momentum that can launch the leadership of those who follow us.”
In What Makes a Leader Great, Russ Crosson points out, “If we don’t pass the leadership baton well, the mission of whatever we’re leading could be lost. It’s all about passing on something of greater value to the next generation. We lead in order to replace ourselves. At the end of the day, we’re not successful leaders unless we have successors.”
And, of course, John Maxwell’s 21st Law in The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership is The Law of Legacy, which says, “We will be judged by how well the people we invested in carry on after we are gone.”
Click here to learn more from John Maxwell on Attracting, Developing, and Multiplying Leaders
