The credibility, image, and reputation of organizations and the people who run them can be at stake when they can’t immediately replace leaders who leave unexpectedly.
The Republican-led House of Representatives is a case in point.
A recent CNN poll found 74% of Americans disapprove of Republican leaders in Congress amid the battle for Speaker of the House, The Hill reported. This was increase from the 67% who disapproved of how GOP leaders conducted their jobs in January. Fifty-two percent said they have a negative view of the Republican Party overall, which is also up from 45% in January
The legislative branch of government has been rudderless for more almost three weeks, and there is no guarantee that things will get better anytime soon. But unlike leadership vacuums in the corporate world, a continued failure by the GOP to elect a Speaker to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California) who was ousted earlier this month has had ripple effects on critical domestic, international, and national security issues.
The ongoing political drama in Washington is providing corporate boards of directors around the world with real-time lessons about the importance of succession planning—and what can happen when worst-case leadership failures become reality and turn into a full-blown crisis.
Failure Factors
“What we are seeing with the House Speaker is an absence of succession planning followed by a lack of alignment on values and goals,” Joe Judge, a leadership expert and co-author of Leadership Is Overcoming the Natural: 52 Maxims To Move Beyond Instinct, said via email.
The power struggle now on display on the Republican side of the aisle is “an ugly display of ego. It’s really about a splintered dream and [political] party, and not aligning behind a single purpose or strategy. Without that alignment, anyone who takes the position is destined to fail,” he warned.
Keys To Success
Development
“The key to any succession planning is developing others to be ready. Not simply identifying a sole replacement…but developing the skills, behaviors, competencies in others to allow choices when a succession opportunity occurs,” D. Kevin Berchelman, an executive and leadership coach at Triangle Performance, said via email.
Timing
“Succession planning occurs before the need,” he noted. “If you find yourself, either corporate or political, scurrying for a candidate to fill an immediate need, that’s not succession planning. Succession, by definition, is proactive. Replacement is reactive. In crisis appointments, we usually make unforced errors in compromising and watering down essential needs to make the fit.
“Seldom do ;best choices’ emerge from that environment,” he concluded.
The Importance Of Deep Leadership Benches
Unlike Congress, it is unlikley that a sudden vacancy at the top of a corporate organization chart would create a free-for-all popularity content to fill the void.
Depending on the size, nature, and age of a company, businesses may have already groomed second- tier leaders such as vice presidents or division heads, to assume the leadership mantle.
Only 12% of companies report confidence in the strength of their bench, according to DDI’s 2023 Global Leadership Forecast Report. That’s hardly an improvement over 2021, which showed only 11% had confidence in their bench of leaders.
If board of directors have not already taken steps to groom or identify future their future leaders, then the current chaos in the House of Representatives is an important reminder why they should.
Crisis Management Planning
Companies and organizations should not leave succession planning to chance. And they should account for sudden vacuums in leadership in their crisis management and crisis communication plans.
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