A client of ours had done a great job of building a succession ladder for his small company. He got the idea that there would be no successess without succession. All key positions were covered in case of a death or disability, and an emergency action plan was in place. Long-term development plans were also in place so that people were becoming cross trained, active participants in the strategic planning and execution process.

Succession for the long term was going great.

Until Sally, the successor for the presidency, began showing derailing behaviors. She was going through a divorce and it was getting ugly. At work she was miserable, disengaged, missing meetings and deadlines and unapologetic about her behavior. She resisted coaching, refused a referral to the Employee Assistance Program, and was rapidly self-destructing. The only choice was to terminate her, leaving a demoralized team, a giant hole in the succession plan and a lot of wasted time and diminished productivity.

Even when a company does everything right, they cannot anticipate everything.

Agility, committment to the long-term and candor brought us back to a reenergized plan, the recruitment of new talent and more confidence and trust in the team and their ability to handle unexpected internal disruptions, even the loss of a key player.