72 Phil Sponsler — Creating the right succession plan for your organization

One of the key responsibilities of a leader is to think about the future. That includes considering things like how to prepare teammates to take the next step in their career, and how to adjust the organization when a key teammate moves on. Today’s guest has spent decades thinking about succession planning and then creating and implementing tools and structures to address these issues.

Phil Sponsler was the longtime president of Orbitform, a manufacturing company in Jackson, Michigan. He joined us on a previous episode of The Clarity Advisors Show to discuss servant leadership, and he’s back today to talk with host Ken Trupke about why succession planning is so important and how to do it right.

(01:23): Why succession planning is important.
(03:09): It’s not just for the top of the organization.
(06:06): And not just for people, either.
(07:06): Processes and capabilities.
(08:22): The role of human resources.
(11:28): Getting team members to buy in.
(14:41): The hiring matrix.
(17:41): Finding the right fit, and the “no jerks” rule.
(19:16): Best practices.
(23:52): How hiring has evolved in recent years.
(27:49): Recommended reading and listening.
(30:45): Who should contact Phil and how.Episode Quotes
“The foundational thing for good succession planning is the leadership has to love and care for the folks.”“It’s a long disciplined, consistent process. It’s a marathon that’s run like a sprint.”“When you start to list all the things that possibly could threaten the business…for anything that you worry about, you need to start to have the countermeasures. And…countermeasures are your succession plan.”

“If you don’t have HR on your senior leadership team, you’re making a big mistake.”

“As leaders you have a stewardship to be a great servant leader in the organization. Your role is not only your technical side of running the business. You also have the responsibility to love and care for your people that you have stewardship of.”

 

Recommended Reading and Listening