The most critical people decision, and the one that is hardest to undo, is the succession to the top.
The succession to the top decision is the most difficult because every such decision is a gamble. The only test of performance in the top position is performance in the top position—and there is very little preparation for it. What not to do is fairly simple. You don’t want a carbon copy of the outgoing CEO. If the outgoing CEO says, “Joe [or Mary] is just like me thirty years ago,” that’s a carbon copy—and carbon copies are always weak. Be a little leery, too, of the faithful assistant who for eighteen years has been at the boss’s side anticipating his or her every wish, but has never made a decision alone. ...
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