Pools

Pipelines

Reservoirs

PIPELINES

Succession Planning

Ensuring the right person is in the right place at the right time

for the right reasons

Continuity Discontinuity

Planned

(purposeful)

Planned Continuity Planned Discontinuity

Unplanned(accidental/unintentional)

Unplanned Continuity

Unplanned Discontinuity

Succession Planning Patterns

Hargreaves & Fink, Sustainable Leadership, 2006, Jossey Bass

POOLS

Succession management involves the long term development of a pool of well prepared, contextually sensitive, dedicated leaders who are available for promotion whenever the need arises within an organization

Succession Management

Succession Management

identify

recruit

develop

select

induct

Appraisal(Feedback)

support

celebrate

transitions

&

•Sink or swim’

•‘Moving, mentoring and monitoring’

• ‘Spray and pray’

•Learning in action

•Corporate Academies

Models of Leadership Support

CORWIN

Values

Commitment

Learnings

Qualities Trajectories

Succession Management

LEADERSHIP FOR MORTALS

• Learnings

• Qualities

• Trajectories

• Commitment

• Values

WHAT MUST CHANGE

WHAT DOESN’T CHANGE

Leaders’ Learnings

• Understanding learning• Contextual knowledge• Critical thinking• Futures thinking• Political acumen• Emotional understanding• Making connections

Stoll, Fink & Earl (2002)

I had a brief meeting with the previous head teacher and during that meeting he gave me three big bunch of keys, told me the combinations to all the door locks and gave me a list of parents who would cause me grief and that was it. It’s staggering to think about. But that was it- that was his handover process.

Before I took over, Debbie spent almost five days with me. By the time she left she wanted to be able to say that I knew everything I needed to know to take her place, but I could still call. One day I told her I just want to come, she didn’t even need to be here, I just wanted to walk through the building so I came and I walked through the building and got a feeling for it and talked to the few people that were here in July. The second time I came she took me around and, she introduced me to more people.

Induction

CELEBRATION

2. Endurance

Hargreaves & Fink, 2006

Availability of counselling and coaching for exiting leadersQuick, clear and open communication of reasons for departureAcceptance of emotional confusion and vulnerabilityCelebration of the leader’s contributionsRecognition that succession is subject to the four stages of grief – denial, awakening, reflection and executionConfrontation of the Messiah and Rebecca mythsPrepares oneself and others early for the possibility of succession

Succession Planning(transitions)

Ensuring the right person is in the right place at the right time

for the right reasons

Good succession plans

• Prepare early• Give people proper time to prepare• Incorporate into all school improvement plans• Should be responsibility of many• Should reflect the school’s existing stage of

development • Are linked to clearly defined leadership standards

Succession

Successful Succession Management

• Distributes leadership effectively• Builds strong professional communities• Deepens and broadens the pools of leadership talent• Establishes leadership development schools• Stresses future leadership competencies• Supports and sponsors aspiring school leaders• Replaces charismatic leadership with inspirational

leadership• Plans early for the incumbent leader’s exit• Moderates and monitors leadership succession

frequency

2. Endurance

RESERVOIRS

Distributed Leadership

sees leadership practice as a product of the

interaction of school leaders, followers and their

situation.

• Leadership practice involves multiple individuals within and outside formal leadership positions

• Leadership practice is not done to followers. Followers are themselves part of leadership practice.

• It is not the actions of individuals, but the interactions among them that matter most in leadership practice.

Spillane, 2005

LOW HIGH

HIGH

DESIGN

EMERGENCE

Anarchy

Autocracy ?

?

Raising the temperature of distributed leadership

Anarchy

Assertive distribution

Emergent distribution

Guided distribution

Progressive delegation

Traditional delegation

Autocracy

Too hot

Too cold