Debra Howard Consulting

Leadership Development and Succession Planning

Empty Seats on the Bus

It’s easy for leaders to put succession planning on the to-do list for tomorrow. It’s an uncomfortable subject, and there’s usually no hard deadline for it. But by the time you get around to it, it might be too late to develop your future talent, and you might have too many empty seats on the bus to sustain the business. It takes time and focused attention to grow good managers, and to make sure you have someone to call for backup when that too-good-to-say-no opportunity comes your way, or you’re ready to retire, or life throws you a curve ball.

What we do:

  • have confidential conversations with leaders about their plans, needs, and concerns, and their assessment of possible successors
  • facilitate succession-planning sessions with the leadership and management teams
  • conduct an independent assessment of management bench strength, if needed
  • assist managers in creating development plans with their high-potential employees
  • help managers have honest, constructive conversations with employees who need to be moved out of management roles, or out of the organization altogether
  • design and deliver a leadership development program for promising leaders
  • provide one-on-one leadership coaching, where needed