Hopefully you buy the Right Reconciliation Theory: assuming you have survived, there is nothing you do wrong that cannot many fold be reconciled by the things you do right. I know there are many ways of taking exception to this theory but from a succession planning perspective, it works. There are ten diverse components to the Succession Matrix that give plenty of opportunity to do things right and wrong. We all have our strengths and our weaknesses which from a realistic perspective means that on the norm, we are doing some things right and some things wrong. As an example we could be knocking the market dead with profitability while being totally insensitive to the development of a successor. Or reciprocally we could be so involved in the development of our successor that organizational productivity falls through the basement.
With this foundation of admittedly convoluted thought, I offer two simple suggestions to those of you who are currently wearing thin on the notion that you are a success because you have survived. Endeavor to be self aware of the things you are doing right and the things you are doing wrong. You will probably conclude that your natural dispersion of succession planning competencies is based much upon your personality and the personality of your supporting staff. Revealing assessment questions could be: am I good in relationships and motivation or structure and details? Is my staff much like me or do we represent a diversity of strengths, priorities and preferences? With questions such as these, endeavor to assess your succession planning strengths and weaknesses.
Irrespective of the source of your right and wrong, make a commitment to do two things: not only commit to continue to do the things you are doing right but also commit to doing those things “righter”. Of course that’s a fabricated word, but it supports my belief in the Right Reconciliation Theory. Second, just endeavor to address the things you are neglecting or doing wrong with a commitment to do better as time, money and people allow. These commitments become your “purpose”. This is no silver bullet to a perfect Succession Success Positioning score but this is a simple and encouraging (who’s got time for discouragement in this environment) way to not only affirm survival but also to diligently build a more diversified, stable and resilient form of success.
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