Today's topic should probably follow after a discussion on leadership, however I have had a few thoughts come over the past week relating to succession and thus feel prompted to start here. Succession, of course is the passing on of responsibility (sometimes leadership) to a younger generation. For ongoing success, it is crucial to get this right. It is part of the legacy planning we have discussed previously.

Part of successful planning for a company, organisation, church or other body (even a family) is planning handover - making sure that the next generation is set up for future success. Often times this would involve picking out a suitable younger protégé to follow the CEO/leader for an extended period of time, learning the ins and outs of leading the organisation, managing the assets and slowly transitioning responsibility and decision-making.

In my own career - both in medicine and military - systemic structures are put in place to try and ensure good succession all throughout health and defence.

1. Initially both institutions have a selection process in an attempt to have the right candidates performing the right jobs. This involves interviews, references, psychology testing (in the case of defence) and fitness testing (also defence).
2. There is an extended training period to have all candidates brought up to a baseline level of competence.
3. At the end of "basic" training each candidate is then placed in a junior role within the workplace proper. In both cases the junior roles have small amounts of responsibility, but large exposure to the diversity of the organisation as a whole - affording both an understanding of the wider organisation and an opportunity to try out different aspects to see which may suit the pursuit of a future specialised role.
4. The initial workplace experience can then follow 2 paths: the candidate (now employee) could opt to stay at this more junior level, or they can then start to specialise and subspecialise. In both defence and in medicine this involves an on-the-job training similar to an apprenticeship. Particularly in medicine, the junior doctor would seek out senior mentors in their field (if they hadn't done so already) and journey through more years of study/training to reach a specialist qualification.
5. At the end of this you find the fully qualified, specialist doctors that you might be referred to for looking after your heart or replacing your knee. In the defence context, with ongoing progression, the job usually involves less specialising in a specific field and more development in managing larger groups of people. Both fields progressively develop greater and greater degrees of responsibility in each.

As for most long term paths, there is a significant attrition rate at each step (generally more in the earlier steps) - part of the succession planning is weeding out the less suitable candidates from the pool. This can be voluntary (I had a number of colleagues stop their studies during med school) or it can be through standards set that a candidate may not be able to achieve (exams, assessments, work performance reviews). All of these are necessary processes to find a candidate that is suitably motivated and interested, while also having developed the technical skills and character required for the role.

With this in mind, some advice: for those coming through the ranks, recognise how you are being shaped to take over higher roles and work to best complete the prerequisites. Don't be deterred if the path looks difficult or you seem to be delayed (for example, I had to apply a number of times to get into medical school and initially had to complete a university degree prior to my acceptance). These delays - while they can be frustrating or painful - allow development of character and skills that often can't be done once assuming a role of greater authority/responsibility. Use the time to do as much ground work as possible so that when you finally get there you have a solid base of knowledge and experience so that most problems that arise will be easier for you to deal with - these efforts will not be wasted. Those who have reached higher levels, it is important to have a succession plan - someone being equipped to take over your position (in work, family etc) as you graduate further or move to less demanding work. Make sure to nurture and encourage as well as push your young chargers that they may develop well and do you proud later.

"As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." John 20 v 21b