ELEVEN STELLAR PLAYERS WILL NEVER MAKE A GREAT FOOTBALL TEAM. KNOWING WHEN TO STEP AWAY FROM THE GAME IS PART OF THE TOP JOB. SUPERSTARS DON’T ONLY CRAVE ATTENTION, THEY ALSO EXPECT IMMORTALITY AND SO IT GOES THAT A GREAT LEADERSHIP TEAM CAN NEVER BE MADE OF THE MOST DYNAMIC AND EGOTISTICAL INDIVIDUALS, WHO BELIEVE THAT THEY CAN NEVER BE SUPERSEDED. TODAY, ONE OF THE CORE VALUES IN LEADERSHIP, IS TO PLAN FOR DEPARTURE OR THE UNEXPECTED, AS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THAT PARADOXICAL STATE OF CONTINUITY IN THE FACE OF PERPETUAL CHANGE. THAT REQUIRES FUTURE VISION.

Successful companies aren’t just dependent on revolving senior executives, but are made up of talented, diverse groups of people at the top of business and that is why a well-designed, team succession plan is now vital. Far too often, businesses think about building a culture of succession specifically focused on the chief executive – after all this is a pivotal role within an organisation – but orderly succession across the C-suite is paramount, as shareholders see a red flag if there isn’t a smooth process.

Through corporate history, we’ve celebrated heroic soloists from Elon Musk to Steve Jobs, Bill Gates to Bob Iger, where the wisdom of a solitary genius dominates headlines and dictates business success. This has coloured our view of what corporate succession and leadership is all about. All too often, the focus is on individual legacy and single contenders vying for that top position, as they dictate corporate growth. It is why CEO succession is still one of the board’s most important responsibilities, but this dogged focus on a single, superstar leader is potentially misguided. That is because corporations increasingly depend on collaboration and collective intelligence to solve major business challenges, rather than edicts from the top and it is why team succession should now be an important focus. Far more attention is paid to CEO performance and succession than to such issues as how complementary executive teams should be designed and what happens when their membership changes. Yes, we need to acknowledge the symbolic and importance of an organisation’s leader in chief, but it’s vital to expand the focus beyond this unitary position. The fact is, strong executive teams increasingly define the success of a corporation. It is crucially important to now focus on their succession and make-up as well. Few CEOs know the nitty-gritty, operational details or have the talent needed to run today’s vast, complex, fast-evolving organisations single-handedly. The wisdom of the crowd is essential.

The concept of complimentary leadership – those that support the CEO is – only recently gaining attention. That’s because there is a business risk if it’s not taken seriously, or a ripple effect if teams are sub-optimal in their delivery. Increasingly crucial business decisions are made collegiately or by individuals, not the CEO, empowered by data and insights. Resilient and agile businesses looking to make the most of a digital-first, data-led, highly-competitive, globalised market, need executive teams that can drive growth during volatile and uncertain economic times. Top team composition therefore matters – as does every new appointment also matters – as each individual is an important cog in a greater dynamic. From a recruitment perspective this needs planning with care. It helps that CEOs now realise that their job is to develop a deep tranche of experienced and gifted executives capable of, not just stepping into the chief executive’s shoes, but also working as an integrated unit. The big question is, how should team succession be approached?

Firstly, it is advisable for boards to take control of the team succession agenda and manage this as an ongoing process of risk management and competitive advantage, just like CEO succession. The best time to start considering team succession is the day you create and appoint the current team. Effective team succession management also has at its foundation in the alignment of leadership and talent with the overall business strategy, corporate culture and longevity. Many businesses need new skills, innovation, disruptive thinking, digital and business transformation. If a business is planning to expand and needs to shift up the leadership team, it’s important to factor this into the planning process and to ensure that the team composition has the right mix of experience and expertise to be able to make the decisions that the future business will require. The most impactful and effective teams are increasingly diverse, since they have new ways of looking at things. It means that team succession needs careful planning if it’s to deliver a competitive advantage for businesses. For larger, more globalised enterprises relying on talent from different locations internationally, with varying personalities and values is vital that this process is inclusive. Research shows that three-quarters of organisations with frontline decision-making teams in distributed geographies and with diverse mindsets will exceed their financial targets, according to Gartner. It is therefore imperative to cast the net wide, spot which candidates have the skills to be good team players, deal with future challenges as part of a wider dynamic, identify individuals that have the potential to grow as team players and which functions they should move into, to deepen their knowledge as part of the collective.

Many CEOs, board members and HR Directors confuse high performance with high potential. This results in the wrong people being identified as having the highest potential for senior leaders and team succession. At the same time, recruiters must realise the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. Each team member must complement each other, but also be able to be replaced easily if they move on from the corporation, which is no easy task. However, organisations that can put in place an effective team succession plan will be in the enviable position of looking for new team talent when they choose to, rather than when they are forced to. Today, investors, regulators, shareholders and employees understand that a properly managed process of executive team succession is a major driver of long-term, sustainable value creation. Fundamentally, chief executives themselves also have an important role to play when it comes to securing investment in the creation of a strong pipeline of team players. For their part, HR leaders need to be aware of the risks of top teams that rely on star players, be vigilant and step-up to the challenges of ensuring a strategic, longer-term view on talent management. Team succession matters, the future of business is dependent upon it.

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