Leadership Pipeline vs. Succession Planning

In typical fashion I’ve been thinking a bit too much these days, and the current topic is Succession planning.  I mentioned awhile back that I was under the impression that the concept of Succession Planning was too limiting. 

Recently, we had an excellent series of discussions with a real thought leader on the topic Kim Lamoureux at Bersin and she got me looking more closely at the relationship between Career Development and Succession Planning (sort of a top down vs. bottom up lens).

Then, I had the opportunity to attend an outstanding workshop by Patty Azzarello and she suggested a great book I’m currently reading called the Leadership Pipeline. 

All this has brought me to the conclusion that thought leading companies are not just thinking about succession, they are thinking about the entire leadership pipeline.

It is this desire to think more broadly about leadership and top talent that makes a scalable Talent Review process so critical.  Identifying (and investing in) future leaders is a process that allows companies to build a pipeline for future success.

The macro-economic climate including globalization, recession, M&A, etc. make this even more important for companies who consider human capital a competitive advantage. 

So I ask you, can you afford to leave this to chance?  Do you really believe you can hire your way to all the talent you will need to compete in the marketplace today?  What about in ten years time? 

Can you afford to under-utilize your talent? 

What about your competition?  Are they going to do this better or are you taking steps today to win the long game?