Executive Transitions Need Leadership Communication

Executives who fail to plan for a transition in leadership, can plan to fail when the transition occurs. For an example of how one succession plan took two tries to get right, I spoke with OPEN MINDS Senior Associate and former chief operating officer of a large, statewide children’s services organization, Paul Neitman. Mr. Neitman gave a five-year notice that he planned to retire as chief operations officer, including a three-year transition, but was called back when the succession plan didn’t work out the first time. He explained:

The first attempt was one . . .