Succession planning is the process of identifying and developing internal candidates to fill key leadership roles when current incumbents depart, planned or unplanned. The discipline covers the CEO and other C-suite positions, key functional leaders, and sometimes board members. Succession planning is typically neglected at early-stage startups (where it feels premature) and increasingly important as the company scales (where unexpected departures of key leaders can significantly disrupt operations) and approaches IPO (where public-company governance norms require formal succession plans). It is the unglamorous discipline that pays off in moments of crisis and is most valuable precisely when nobody thinks they need it.
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