Southway Builders, Inc.

Jennifer Vedrani

Leadership Pipeline Champion

When organizations talk about succession planning, the conversation often starts with who could step into this role if we needed them to? By then, we may already be too late.

Building a strong leadership pipeline requires us to identify potential early and, more importantly, create opportunities for people to develop before we need them to take the next step. Leadership development isn't an HR initiative or an annual succession planning exercise. It has to become part of how an organization operates and how its leaders lead.

Development Doesn't Require a Promotion

We often connect career development with promotion, but they aren't the same thing.

Some of the best development happens before someone gets the next title. Give an employee a challenging project. Expose them to another part of the business. Ask them to mentor someone. Let them lead an initiative, participate in a leadership program, present to senior leadership or solve a problem without giving them the answer.

These experiences build confidence, judgment and leadership capability.

But companies have to actively create them. We can't ask employees to grow while continuing to give them only the work they already know how to do. If we see potential in someone, we should be asking: What experience does this person need next? Sometimes the answer is a promotion. Often, it isn't.

Leaders Have to Develop Leaders

Many leaders earned their positions because they were exceptional at getting results. They delivered the project, solved the problem or hit the number.

“A strong leadership pipeline is reflected in the people throughout the organization who are being challenged, coached and prepared for what comes next.”

Leadership adds another responsibility: deliver the work and develop the people doing it. Coaching, feedback, delegation and creating stretch opportunities can't be things leaders do when they have extra time. Developing people has to be part of the job.

HR can create leadership programs, facilitate talent discussions and provide tools, but HR cannot build the leadership pipeline alone. Leaders have to know their people, their strengths, where they need development, what motivates them and where they may have potential that hasn't been tapped yet. And then they have to create opportunities for them to use it.

Make Talent Development Part of the Business

Succession planning shouldn't happen only when someone announces a retirement or a critical position opens.

Organizations need a regular rhythm for talking about talent. Who is performing well? Who has potential? Who wants to grow? Where are our gaps? What experiences could prepare someone for greater responsibility?

Performance management, talent reviews, leadership development and succession planning should all connect. The goal is to understand not only how someone is performing today, but what they could be capable of tomorrow and what we can do to help them get there. That also means recognizing that growth looks different for different people. It could be a new project, a different market, exposure to another leader, formal training, mentoring or simply a seat at a table they haven't been invited to before.

Build the Bench Before You Need It

A strong leadership pipeline isn't measured by a succession plan sitting in a file. It's reflected in the people throughout the organization who are being challenged, coached and prepared for what comes next.

Ultimately, leaders build leaders.

Our responsibility is to recognize potential, create opportunities for people to stretch and give them the feedback and support they need along the way. If we do that consistently, succession planning becomes less about filling an open position and more about having a strong bench of people who are ready for their next opportunity and helping people achieve more of their potential along the way.