As an issue, succession planning has become even more a pressing matter of late. In Dennis Carey’s book “CEO Succession” Mr. Carey points out that the tenure of an executive has shrunk on average from 8 years a decade ago, to only about 5 years now, making the issue of succession planning of even greater importance.

It is understandable that a CEO might not be too anxious to name his or her successor while he/she is still functioning in his capacity as leader. Human nature dictates that “few chief executives want to encourage a bright youngster to covet their job too early.” Nevertheless, Dennis Carey recommends that a healthy company which wants to remain that way needs to think about its future early and develop a succession plan that will allow the transfer of power to be as smooth and painless as possible.