Do you have a pipeline of leaders who can grow your company, free you up to have more time for strategic issues, and take your business further than you ever imagined?

Do you have at least TWO people ready to take over your job if something happened to you? What about the other key roles in your organisation?

Many executives spend so much time focusing on daily and quarterly results that they neglect one of the most important jobs that they have: Creating a pipeline of leaders.

Having a weak pipeline of leaders is like a football team with a with no bench to take over when the on-fielders are injured or need a rest. Your organisation simply can’t win without a pipeline of leaders.

The answer is succession planning – but I am not talking about a one-time event to plan successors for each role. Instead, you need to have an ongoing process, baked into your culture, one that constantly recruits, develops, and retains top talent in each and every role.

*Here are three requirements you need for sustainable growth:

1. The right mindset. Success begins with the right mindset. Many business owners keep their businesses dependent on them due to limiting beliefs. Examples include: “I can’t trust anyone to do the job as well as I can”; “Everything always needs to be perfect”; and “This company is my baby and I won’t surrender control.” In contrast, business leaders who grow sustainable businesses that can survive and thrive without them are willing to surrender full control. They don’t need to micromanage. They are open to recruiting people smarter than they are and giving them the resources and time to develop professionally.

2. A foundation in place to recruit, retain, and develop leaders who can keep the company growing without you. Building a successful company starts with a strong foundation. Elements of this foundation include: clear roles and responsibilities, accountability through performance metrics, a clear organisational chart, a recruiting process that attracts the top talent in the field, a process that develops talent, rewards and a management philosophy that engages and retains talent, career paths for key roles, systems and processes that allow the company to run independently of key employees, and a performance management system that is fair and demands the best from people.

3. An ongoing succession planning process to keep challenging and preparing new leaders. If you have the above requirements in place, the final piece of the puzzle is an ongoing succession planning process. Succession planning is not a one-time event to replace a retiring executive. It is an ongoing approach to identifying top talent, developing them, and challenging them to move up.

Companies that have these three requirements in place can keep on growing. They give the leader more time to spend on strategic issues and setting high standards. They allow the leader or owner to take long vacations and have a great life outside of work. Most importantly, they make the company more valuable.

Sometimes you need an objective resource to assess your leadership and then work with you to make sure that your organisation has this pipeline of leaders in place. Howardco Business & HR Solutions specialises in this area. For more information, contact us at info@howardco.com.au or click here to take a free assessment.

*Adapted with permission by Center for Executive Coaching