- Email: [email protected]
Succession Leadership
PROFILES IN LEADERSHIP
FRANK JAMES LEXA, MD, MBA
Succession Leadership I used to believe in forever, but forever is too good to be true.[1] —A. A. Milne
TACTICAL STEPS IN SUCCESSION PLANNING Start to Think About a Date
INTRODUCTION One of the hardest decisions for successful leaders is deciding when to step down. Many leaders find it very hard to leave. Some, like Teddy Roosevelt, leave and then find it impossible to stay away, which creates problems for their successors. This leads many presidents and CEOs to try for a clean break. The problem in many situations is that there is little planning and preparation for that break, leading to a vacuum and discontinuity in leadership. In 2010, at the October ACR Practice Leaders meeting, a survey of the leaders in attendance revealed that fewer than half of the practices represented had plans for succession. In this month’s column, I focus on ways you can help prepare your successors for the challenges they will face. STRATEGIC PLANNING The first point about succession is that it is inevitable. Like death and taxes, it is one of the few sure things in life. You will not work forever, so you need to consider how to help your group prepare for that day. An added benefit of actively planning and preparing for that day is that it will also help in the unfortunate circumstance of your reign ending prematurely. If one person is doing most of the leadership work in a medium-sized practice while everyone else focuses on reading films, then the practice is always one car accident away from a crisis. To the extent that your succession planning begins early, it can help with this potential problem as well.
In an ideal situation, you should start your tenure by planning and working with the end in mind. That includes thinking about how you hand the reins over to your successor. As we saw above, the majority of leaders in our field do not have plans. Most do not begin thinking about this until their age or their personal circumstances force them to confront the issue. I advise leaders to start preparing at least 5 years ahead of their expected dates of retirement. This is usually more of a window (plus or minus a few years) than a date, but it gets the process started. Gain Buy-In From Your Group Once you begin to focus on the reality of succession, you need to have a discussion with your group. At this point, you need their support with your decision to begin the planning process and discussion. Many leaders are loath to take this step because they are concerned that this will alarm their groups and cause anxiety. In some groups, that may occur, but it is much more likely that the group members have been thinking about this almost as much as you have, so if anything, they will be relieved that someone has finally brought it up at your partners meeting. Delegate and Distribute This is good, general advice for most leaders, but it is remarkably rare in our field, even at some rather large practices. Asking one person to shoulder all of the leadership tasks is a poor way to run an organization and
© 2011 American College of Radiology 0091-2182/11/$36.00 ● DOI 10.1016/j.jacr.2010.12.011
carries the risks outlined above. If your group is run this way now, it is a good time to start to distribute some of the leadership work among a select group of individuals. It is also the next step in your succession plan. It accomplishes several goals at once. First, it helps train promising candidates for leadership work. Second, it establishes a more robust structure for the organization that will be part of your legacy. Third, it allows you to watch these candidates and assess their capability to replace you. Most radiology practices today seem likely to promote from within to fill leadership vacancies. If this is your expectation, then this is the way to embark. Evaluate Be wary of skipping the above steps. It is critical that you spend time evaluating your possible successors. Sometimes the person in your group who seemed to be an obvious choice for a leader turns out to be mediocre once given some leadership tasks. By starting at least a few years in advance and by giving people incremental amounts of responsibility, you will have a chance to assess whether they are the right people to carry the group forward. Mentor Mentoring is critical to developing your next generation of leaders. This involves both general principles of leadership as well as the key practicespecific information that you have accumulated during your tenure. Contrary to conventional mythology, leaders are not born. Most other organizations use mentoring to develop their leaders, and you as a leader need to mentor your future leaders. You have an important responsibility here, particularly for the specifics, but you should also use external resources 281
282 Profiles in Leadership
as well. You should consider sending them to courses on leadership and perhaps more formal certificate or degree programs so that they can gain additional skills and insights into the tasks and roles of being a leader. There is a nice tradition in the American presidency whereby an outgoing president leaves a letter for his successor in the Oval Office. Consider the key points that you want to make to your successor and make sure that your mentoring efforts succeed in preparing them. Consider Your Personal Plan Most of the above milestones are focused on the greater good of your group and the plan for the group and the future leader. You also need to consider your personal needs. Are you going to retire when you step down, or are you going to continue to be a member of the group? Are you staying in the community, or are you moving to another state
to start your retirement? Think carefully about this. After a long tenure as the leader, will you be happy as a partner while someone else leads? Will you be able to step aside? Your replacement will probably always be able to benefit from your advice, but if you are unable to completely hand over the reins, you will make it impossible for the new leader to perform, and you may make yourself look foolish. Think of the example of Teddy Roosevelt, who embarrassed himself and damaged his party so much that the election split meant that the opposition party won the White House. If that doesn’t have enough impact, consider the numerous examples of athletes who kept coming back long after their primes, embarrassing themselves but unable to resist until they got hurt or humiliated themselves. In your case, begin the planning and consider the milestones above to help with making this difficult
process both less painful and more successful. SUMMARY 1. Succession planning begins with you and should begin now. 2. Although every plan will be different, there are several key milestones you need to meet to smooth the transition. 3. You and your group need to work together to make the transition work. 4. Both mentoring and formal preparation are keys to leadership development. 5. Selecting a successor should occur after a process of progressive delegation and evaluation to make sure that you have the right person with the right preparation. REFERENCE 1. http://thinkexist.com/quotation/i_used_ to_believe_in_forever-but_forever_is_too/ 9536.html, accessed January 19, 2011.
Frank James Lexa, MD, MBA, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, GCP, 306 Gypsy, Wynnewood, PA 19096; e-mail: [email protected].
FRANK JAMES LEXA, MD, MBA
Succession Leadership I used to believe in forever, but forever is too good to be true.[1] —A. A. Milne
TACTICAL STEPS IN SUCCESSION PLANNING Start to Think About a Date
INTRODUCTION One of the hardest decisions for successful leaders is deciding when to step down. Many leaders find it very hard to leave. Some, like Teddy Roosevelt, leave and then find it impossible to stay away, which creates problems for their successors. This leads many presidents and CEOs to try for a clean break. The problem in many situations is that there is little planning and preparation for that break, leading to a vacuum and discontinuity in leadership. In 2010, at the October ACR Practice Leaders meeting, a survey of the leaders in attendance revealed that fewer than half of the practices represented had plans for succession. In this month’s column, I focus on ways you can help prepare your successors for the challenges they will face. STRATEGIC PLANNING The first point about succession is that it is inevitable. Like death and taxes, it is one of the few sure things in life. You will not work forever, so you need to consider how to help your group prepare for that day. An added benefit of actively planning and preparing for that day is that it will also help in the unfortunate circumstance of your reign ending prematurely. If one person is doing most of the leadership work in a medium-sized practice while everyone else focuses on reading films, then the practice is always one car accident away from a crisis. To the extent that your succession planning begins early, it can help with this potential problem as well.
In an ideal situation, you should start your tenure by planning and working with the end in mind. That includes thinking about how you hand the reins over to your successor. As we saw above, the majority of leaders in our field do not have plans. Most do not begin thinking about this until their age or their personal circumstances force them to confront the issue. I advise leaders to start preparing at least 5 years ahead of their expected dates of retirement. This is usually more of a window (plus or minus a few years) than a date, but it gets the process started. Gain Buy-In From Your Group Once you begin to focus on the reality of succession, you need to have a discussion with your group. At this point, you need their support with your decision to begin the planning process and discussion. Many leaders are loath to take this step because they are concerned that this will alarm their groups and cause anxiety. In some groups, that may occur, but it is much more likely that the group members have been thinking about this almost as much as you have, so if anything, they will be relieved that someone has finally brought it up at your partners meeting. Delegate and Distribute This is good, general advice for most leaders, but it is remarkably rare in our field, even at some rather large practices. Asking one person to shoulder all of the leadership tasks is a poor way to run an organization and
© 2011 American College of Radiology 0091-2182/11/$36.00 ● DOI 10.1016/j.jacr.2010.12.011
carries the risks outlined above. If your group is run this way now, it is a good time to start to distribute some of the leadership work among a select group of individuals. It is also the next step in your succession plan. It accomplishes several goals at once. First, it helps train promising candidates for leadership work. Second, it establishes a more robust structure for the organization that will be part of your legacy. Third, it allows you to watch these candidates and assess their capability to replace you. Most radiology practices today seem likely to promote from within to fill leadership vacancies. If this is your expectation, then this is the way to embark. Evaluate Be wary of skipping the above steps. It is critical that you spend time evaluating your possible successors. Sometimes the person in your group who seemed to be an obvious choice for a leader turns out to be mediocre once given some leadership tasks. By starting at least a few years in advance and by giving people incremental amounts of responsibility, you will have a chance to assess whether they are the right people to carry the group forward. Mentor Mentoring is critical to developing your next generation of leaders. This involves both general principles of leadership as well as the key practicespecific information that you have accumulated during your tenure. Contrary to conventional mythology, leaders are not born. Most other organizations use mentoring to develop their leaders, and you as a leader need to mentor your future leaders. You have an important responsibility here, particularly for the specifics, but you should also use external resources 281
282 Profiles in Leadership
as well. You should consider sending them to courses on leadership and perhaps more formal certificate or degree programs so that they can gain additional skills and insights into the tasks and roles of being a leader. There is a nice tradition in the American presidency whereby an outgoing president leaves a letter for his successor in the Oval Office. Consider the key points that you want to make to your successor and make sure that your mentoring efforts succeed in preparing them. Consider Your Personal Plan Most of the above milestones are focused on the greater good of your group and the plan for the group and the future leader. You also need to consider your personal needs. Are you going to retire when you step down, or are you going to continue to be a member of the group? Are you staying in the community, or are you moving to another state
to start your retirement? Think carefully about this. After a long tenure as the leader, will you be happy as a partner while someone else leads? Will you be able to step aside? Your replacement will probably always be able to benefit from your advice, but if you are unable to completely hand over the reins, you will make it impossible for the new leader to perform, and you may make yourself look foolish. Think of the example of Teddy Roosevelt, who embarrassed himself and damaged his party so much that the election split meant that the opposition party won the White House. If that doesn’t have enough impact, consider the numerous examples of athletes who kept coming back long after their primes, embarrassing themselves but unable to resist until they got hurt or humiliated themselves. In your case, begin the planning and consider the milestones above to help with making this difficult
process both less painful and more successful. SUMMARY 1. Succession planning begins with you and should begin now. 2. Although every plan will be different, there are several key milestones you need to meet to smooth the transition. 3. You and your group need to work together to make the transition work. 4. Both mentoring and formal preparation are keys to leadership development. 5. Selecting a successor should occur after a process of progressive delegation and evaluation to make sure that you have the right person with the right preparation. REFERENCE 1. http://thinkexist.com/quotation/i_used_ to_believe_in_forever-but_forever_is_too/ 9536.html, accessed January 19, 2011.
Frank James Lexa, MD, MBA, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, GCP, 306 Gypsy, Wynnewood, PA 19096; e-mail: [email protected].