The boards breaking this pattern have figured out that succession can't be an event, it has to be a habit. Here's what separates the serious boards from the ones going through the motions:

They review succession quarterly, but it's not just the CEO running through slides. They dig in. They debate. One board member might push back: "You're telling me Sarah's ready for strategic thinking, but she's never presented a five-year plan to us. How do we actually know?" That friction is productive.
They create opportunities to assess candidates in real scenarios: board dinners where it's just conversation over food, strategic discussions on thorny topics, and presentations followed by tough questions. The point isn't to intimidate. It's to see how people think when things get complicated.
They hold their CEO's feet to the fire on building leadership across the whole organization, not just at the top two levels.
They maintain real relationships outside their own walls with search firms who know the market, peer boards who'll tell them the truth, and industry groups that help them understand what "good" actually looks like.
They run tabletop exercises every year: "The CEO just resigned. Now what?", then walk through what would actually happen and document every place they'd get stuck. It's uncomfortable. It's also necessary.
They've stopped pretending succession and strategy are separate conversations. If your strategy depends on digital transformation but nobody in your leadership pipeline has led digital transformation, that's not a succession problem or a strategy problem. It's both.

You can always tell the difference between real preparedness and performance art. Real preparedness means you can answer the hard questions without hesitation. Who are the candidates? What are their gaps? When are they ready? What's the emergency protocol?
If you can't answer those questions right now, your succession plan exists in theory, not in practice.

Instant Insights /

CEO Succession Planning When the Bench Is Thin

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