Friday, March 4, 2011
With the iPad2 launch, even financial analysts are both praising such innovation while also wondering about Steve Jobs' gaunt looks and overall health. In January, Jobs decided to step down from day-to-day operations at Apple… again. He returned to Apple after a monster multi-organ transplant surgery, gaining our undivided applause and admiration for his resilience. We would all love to live forever and yet, how do we prepare to set up transitions to transfer an empire smoothly, efficiently, and effectively? How do we ensure continuity in day-to-day operations and in creative and innovative processes that will allow our vision to live on?
How can C-level executives transition their power to their successors?
1.
Introduce your successor: During the launch of the iPad2 would have been a wonderful opportunity to introduce Jobs' second-in-command, not only from an operational level but also from a creative "brain" level. This direct introduction during such a global event would have sealed the designated successor's credibility. Ensure you mentor your successor by introducing him or her to all your business connections and give them plenty of leadership opportunities so as to be top-players when it is time for them to undertake the big role. Introducing them once – or at the time of the succession – is insufficient. Ensure they have established significant presence while you are there.
2.
Prepare a transition plan: Most executives tend to transition their companies when crisis strikes: governors leave office hastily after a largely publicized affair, artists and athletes lose sponsorship support and have take their careers take a nose dive after public misbehavior. Others are forced to look for alternative successions when falling gravely ill, and companies look for replacements in shock after sudden death. All of these reasons call for the need for a transition plan before crisis hits.
3.
Decide beforehand whether you will have an internal successor or an external one. There are pros and cons for either strategy. Avoid choosing your successor on your own. Your Board of Directors may be involved in large companies, but ensure you also have a trusted small group of advisors who assist you in the selection and transition plan. Communicate this plan effectively and ensure you have a strong leadership group that will support the successor.
4.
Develop leaders: Leaders who restrict access to information, opportunities, or improvement out of fear that someone will become greater than themselves are sealing a mediocre future for their company. Instead, create an environment that promotes leadership opportunities so that you can select the best of the best.
5.
Select your best successor: It is very tempting for the outgoing leader to find someone very similar – or very different – from themselves. It is impossible to find a clone: what worked twenty or thirty years before is obsolete today. Look at the characteristics that made the company a great company. Ensure you find extraordinary talent in executives that complement one another and focus on selecting the unique leader who will know how to best utilize the talent around with a solid foundation of personal leadership skills including: charisma, command, communication, caring, creativity, and commitment.
Gabriela Cora, MD, MBA. Dr. Gaby Cora is a leadership and well-being consultant to corporations in critical situations and to transitioning leaders of multi-million dollar family businesses. Some of her clients include the Coca-Cola Company, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Blue Bunny, Home Financing Center, and Universal Group. She's the author of ExecutiveHealth.com's Leading Under Pressure (Career Press, 2010).