The Question of Succession

Welcome back from the summer! I hope everyone out there enjoyed their vacations. In as much as the summer was fun, its great that its past because its time to get back to work! The fall is my favorite time of year to focus on business I find the season revitalizing - the crispness of the air seems to create a sense of urgency and a renewed focus on business and moving life forward.

As much as I enjoy the energy that fall provides, it also helps highlight the need to prepare for the "autumn of our lives". This means that succession planning should, if it is not already, be a topic to tackle in the coming months as it is too critical to leave to chance. Coincidentally, this fall is also our country's opportunity to do its own succession planning. As the polls seem to indicate, our country is equally undecided on who should be the next president. I have been torn between the two candidates - the maverick and independent nature of McCain is appealing as is the message of hope and confidence that Obama exudes.

I've long stopped worrying about what political candidates positions on the campaign trail as they are always negotiable soundbites (see moderate Republican candidate George W. Bush in 2000). The only way then to choose a political candidate is by measuring their actions while a candidate. From a business perspective, the most critical decision we make is the selection and development of our management teams which by extension implies our eventual successer. As the Commander-in-Chief, the most critical action a presidential candidate takes during the campaign is the selection of his Vice President - his/her own succession plan for the country.

Accordingly, with both picks announced, I thought it would be appropriate to apply what I consider the three primary tenants of succession planning to the picks to see how the candidates have done in their first decision as an executive. In considering a successor within a succession planning exercise, we ask these three questions:

1. Does the potential successor have enough of the necessary skill set and experience to inspire confidence within the organization in the event they need to immediately step into the leadership position?
2. Does the potential successor have a long enough runway to be a true successor; i.e. do they have the ability to be positioned to lead for a period of time that ensures organizational stability and establishes continuity of values/strategy?
3. Will the potential successor have the support of the organization? Will the organization rally around the successor or is this person a lightning rod, one that will create divisive fissures within the organization that will distract and ultimately undermine it.

Before I begin assessing the two VP picks, let me state that it is not my intent to make a political statement or to politicize this blog; the views I am expressing here are only mine and not those of my firm. My purpose here is to utilize a timely topic to shed some insight into the importance of succession planning and ensuring smart decisions. With that being said, I'll start by looking at Joe Biden:

1. In as much as you can question the experience of any lifetime politician, by the nature of the experience required in the job description, its safe to say that Biden is a yes when it comes to the first question.
2. At 65 years old and a two time Democratic primary loser, Biden does not provide a long-term succession for the Obama vision or for the democratic party. An Obama loss likely makes the 2012 Democrats look like the 2008 Republican field.
   
3. Biden is on the edge here, but ultimately his baggage is typical of those of a politician. He's got the plagarism thing and a history of foot-in-mouth disease but there doesn't seem to be any true vitrol towards him or his views. He is what you expect of a career politician.

Next up is Sarah Polin:

1. I don't care how much you want to spin her time as governor and mayor, she does not have the experience on the national and global stage to warrant being the Vice President. Given the circus of the past couple of days regarding her selection and experience, it appears that her selection does not inspire confidence amongst the masses.
2. With this metric, she does measure up as she has the runway to become a big time player in national politics. Furthermore, her views are certainly aligned with those of the current administration and the base of the party, indicating that she will be able to provide the continuity of leadership that the party wants.
3. With Palin the Republicans think they found thier "Obama"; what they haven't realized yet is that they have likely found their "Hillary". She is opinionated, has controversial views and as her speech last night demonstrated, she is not afraid to be aggressive and take shots at her opponents - much like Hillary. The confluence of those traits typically mean people will like her or hate her; their is no middle ground. Bottom line - she is a lightning rod.

These picks are the polar opposites which makes them great examples when discussing the question of succession. As these gentlemen will surely attest, finding the right successor is never easy but a critical decision for a leader and a key barometer to measure a leader. Based on the basic tenants of choosing a succeser its clear that both could have done a better job with their selection.

In closing, when making your own succession decisions, carefully consider how your choices will fit into the three tenants I laid out. And, for comparative sake, consider them in the context of our Presidential candidates VP selections.