In most post-communist and post-Soviet countries, CEO succession planning in companies remains one of the most obscure HR disciplines. Everyone expects that this is taking place – somehow, somewhere – but where and how, no one knows. Yet, when it happens, CEO succession tends to take everyone by surprise.
Quite often, no one will be more surprised – or disappointed – by succession planning than the C-Suite executive who was hoping they would be selected to become the new CEO.
And yet, they weren’t.
To avoid such career disappointments, here are 10 questions about CEO succession planning in your company you must ask when you’re active in the C-Suite.
QUESTION NO. 1: DOES OUR COMPANY HAVE CEO SUCCESSION PLANNING?
This is such a straightforward question. And yet…
In my conversations with company representatives across 28 post-communist and post-Soviet markets, I dare say the answer is NO in 90% of the cases.
Why is that so?
- “Because succession planning is handled at our headquarters.” This is the answer I get most often from multinational representatives.
- “Because we never got to it.” This is the answer I get from local groups striving to expand abroad.
- “Because we didn’t need it yet.” This is the tragic answer I hear from most family-owned businesses in our region.
Therefore, if you’re a C-Suite executive and you want to be in the clear about where you stand in relation to your next career steps and your chance of becoming the CEO of your organization one day, ask this plain question: Does our company have CEO succession planning?
QUESTION NO. 2: IF NOT, WHAT’S NEXT FOR MY CAREER?
The reason many executives avoid asking the first question is because, if the answer is negative, this invites the next difficult question: If we have no succession planning, how can I know what needs to happen for me to become the next CEO?
And if I can’t become the next CEO, then what’s next for my career?
Sometimes, the answer to a simple question can be so frightening that we prefer rather not to ask it.
But not asking is the safest recipe for disaster and derailed executive careers.
If you want clarity and a sense of agency in relation to your career and life, I encourage you to clarify your next career step the moment you set foot in the C-Suite.
QUESTION NO. 3: IF YES, WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
At the same time, in some companies the answer to the question whether you have CEO succession planning in place might be yes.
In this case, your next question should be around clarifying what CEO succession planning entails in your company and under your specific circumstances.
Don’t rely on the idea that the process exists. Even if it exists, it doesn’t mean it will work for you – or for your career.
QUESTION NO. 4: IS OUR CEO SUCCESSION PLANNING OPT-IN OR OPT-OUT?
This is a powerful question.
In my previous work supporting women leaders to grow into the CEO role, I hit an invisible barrier: the opt-in succession plan.
Essentially, an opt-in succession plan looks like a VIP lounge: only a selected few get invited to apply for the CEO role. How they are selected and how the invitations to apply for the role are distributed – that’s usually a mystery (and the most fertile ground for favoritism, nepotism, sexism, gender bias, corruption, and other issues, I might add).
To prevent such issues, enlightened companies use an opt-out CEO succession planning strategy.
This means that everyone in the C-Suite is automatically invited into the CEO readiness development program. If you don’t feel ready for the challenge, you can opt out. But if you’re in the C-Suite and you would like to stretch your CEO muscles and test whether you’re ready for the top job, an opt-out strategy is much more equitable for all members of your senior leadership team.
QUESTION NO. 5: HOW DO WE MEASURE CEO READINESS?
How can you be sure you’re ready to promote into the CEO role?
Simply – by measuring your CEO readiness against your company guidelines.
The CEO readiness guidelines for your company should be a robust document that includes:
- The specific company and industry skills necessary for the CEO role (the CEO skill taxonomy) +
- The specific human and leadership skills necessary for the role (such as strategic and investor communications, emotional intelligence, stakeholder management, media relations and reputation management, crisis management and communications etc.) +
- An overview of the ideal career track and outcomes placing someone in pole position to become the next CEO +
- The specific stretch assignments necessary to expand one’s aptitudes and CEO readiness +
- An overview of how your company measures and develops CEO skills, etc.
Once you understand the bigger picture of what’s expected from you in the CEO role, you can start carving your plan for what you need to develop to grow into the top role in your organization.
QUESTION NO. 6: HOW DOES OUR COMPANY DEVELOP CEO READINESS?
Beware of the company that says: We develop it in a six-day in-person leadership course. That’s not bad; it’s a start. But it’s not sufficient by far.
In my experience, shifting your mindset from department manager (finance, sales, operations, logistics, HR, communications, risk management etc.) to becoming the CEO who is able to speak for ALL these departments with one voice takes anywhere between 6 and 18 months.
This shift can be achieved with individual executive coaching or as part of a robust 12- to 18-month CEO readiness development plan for C-Suite executives.
Beware of the company that will promise you mindset miracle shifts in a couple of days.
QUESTION NO. 7: HOW CAN I TRAIN MY OWN CEO READINESS BEYOND WHAT OUR COMPANY HAS TO OFFER?
This is a monumentally important question. It shows agency and it’s a vital question for your career – mainly when your company doesn’t invest in CEO readiness.
Here are some ideas you may want to consider:
- Apply for a stretch assignment in another line of business in your company;
- Apply for a stretch assignment abroad / at your headquarters;
- Apply for a stretch assignments with one of your clients;
- Go for an EMBA courses – even if this means paying for it from your own pocket;
- Get yourself an executive coach specialized in developing CEO readiness etc.
QUESTION NO. 8: HOW LONG DOES THE COLD AND THE HOT PHASES OF OUR CEO SUCCESSION PLANNING LAST?
Here are two more concepts you should understand:
- The cold phase of CEO succession planning in your company: This is the phase that happens from the moment a new CEO steps into their role until roughly 24 to 12 months before their departure. This cold phase can become hot suddenly if the CEO is forced to leave abruptly and the company needs a CEO replacement overnight.
- The hot phase of CEO succession planning: This phase ignites the moment everyone is in the clear that your company is proactively looking for a new CEO. The phase lasts until the new CEO is selected and appointed to the role. The gap between the new CEO appointment and their first day in the role is part of the new CEO executive transition.
Clarify in which phase your company is right now. If the answer is cold phase, clarify when you expect your company to enter the hot phase of CEO succession planning.
QUESTION NO. 9: HOW TRANSPARENT IS OUR CEO SUCCESSION PLANNING PROCESS?
This question addresses your expectations for a clear timeline, information, and transparency.
It’s a perfectly legitimate question and any decent HR business partner in charge of succession planning should be able to answer it for you.
QUESTION NO. 10: WHAT HAPPENS IF I FINISH SECOND?
Being involved in CEO readiness development doesn’t always mean you’ll get the top job.
It does mean that you will acquire new leadership skills that put you in pole position for a CEO role. And now you’re facing a tough question and decision: can you make peace with who was selected to be your new CEO and remain a constructive part of their C-Suite, or do you need to take your career growth dreams elsewhere?
I am fully aware these are tough questions. At the same time, not asking them is not a solution.
The greatest delusion after the fall of communism in our region is that growth comes easily our way. Maybe this was the case before 2020. For sure, this is not the case anymore.
If you want to hold the reins of your career and life firmly in your hand, these are vital questions you need to ask. At the risk of coming across as overly ambitious and impatient, it’s better to know what you don’t know than to place your hopes in a potentially nonexistent process. After all, this is your career – and you deserve full transparency and clear guidance about how to make the best of it.
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