Increasingly, companies have begun to understand the importance of succession planning. Best practice companies invest considerable time and money in the identification of up-and-coming leaders; more boards of directors have also come to embrace their role in overseeing succession to the CEO position, as well as to a few senior roles such as COO and CFO. Unfortunately, unless executives are being considered as candidates for higher level roles, these development efforts rarely extend to other members of a company's senior team: the heads of major operating groups and corporate functions such as finance and IT. In this article, we identify three patterns that increase the risk of performance failure for long-tenured senior executives who are not being considered candidates for higher level roles. We then present three questions that can trigger a number of important development actions, which can in turn create more effective senior executive teams, curb unplanned attrition, and lead to more predictable succession plans.

Promotions to the C-suite are governed by unwritten rules. If you don't know what they are, you'll be left to your own devices interpreting vague feedback and finding a way to achieve your career goals. Beeson has created a framework to help you identify and address any issues that may be getting in your way. Executive placement decisions hinge on three categories of skills: nonnegotiables, without which you will not be considered for a promotion; deselection factors, which eliminate you as a candidate even if you're otherwise qualified; and core selection factors, which ultimately determine who gets the position. Leadership competency models typically fail to make these distinctions, and most don't spell out how skills should be demonstrated at different levels. In middle management, for instance, teamwork is a vital competency. At more senior levels, the imperatives are to think strategically and to acquire and develop talent. Many unwritten rules are especially elusive because they don't pertain to technical or business knowledge. Rather, they relate to the soft skills that give decision makers an intuitive sense of your potential for success. Complicating matters further, managers and HR professionals often give intentionally vague feedback - not direct constructive criticism - for fear of losing good employees. You'll need to dig deep to get useful input from executives and other colleagues: Project a sincere desire to understand what's holding you back. Ask questions, but don't lobby or argue. Avoid comments or gestures that convey defensiveness, which could cause the other person to clam up or move the conversation to safer territory. And be alert to code words and phrases - such as general observations about the need for "increased leadership ability" or "better communication" - that may mask fundamental issues.

Edward Bennett has done wonders at Astar Enterprises. In the 15 years he's been CEO, the company has more than tripled in size through product line extension and disciplined acquisitions and is now distributing its cleaning, personal hygiene, and skin care products nationwide. But Astar's chief executive is 64 years old, and while all his attention is taken up with a new strategy to expand into international markets, board members are becoming increasingly worried about the issue of succession. Bennett wants none of it, arguing that if he were to die suddenly, his second in command, Tom Terrell, could take over. Besides, after much prodding, Bennett, former vice-chairman Vincent Dalton, and longtime HR head Gail Thompson have already come up with a list of four possibilities. "When will these guys back off?" Bennett complains to Thompson. "I've told them who the candidates are. Why do we need to talk about it?" Thompson knows, however, that the board chairman, Tom Calloway, considers Terrell a nonstarter without the requisite skills to take over in anything more than an interim capacity. As for the other three candidates, only one is even known to the board, and none has any significant international experience. Calloway is well aware of how critical Bennett is to Astar. But he's equally certain that the board risks failing in its fiduciary responsibilities if it doesn't create a viable succession plan. What should Calloway and the board do if Bennett refuses to cooperate? Commenting on this fictional case study in R0609A and R0609Z are John W. Rowe, the executive chairman of Aetna; Edward Reilly, the president and CEO of the American Management Association; Jay A. Conger, a professor at Claremont McKenna College and London Business School; Douglas A. Ready, a visiting professor at London Business School; and Michael Jordan, the CEO of EDS.

Edward Bennett has done wonders at Astar Enterprises. In the 15 years he's been CEO, the company has more than tripled in size through product line extension and disciplined acquisitions and is now distributing its cleaning, personal hygiene, and skin care products nationwide. But Astar's chief executive is 64 years old, and while all his attention is taken up with a new strategy to expand into international markets, board members are becoming increasingly worried about the issue of succession. Bennett wants none of it, arguing that if he were to die suddenly, his second in command, Tom Terrell, could take over. Besides, after much prodding, Bennett, former vice-chairman Vincent Dalton, and longtime HR head Gail Thompson have already come up with a list of four possibilities. "When will these guys back off?" Bennett complains to Thompson. "I've told them who the candidates are. Why do we need to talk about it?" Thompson knows, however, that the board chairman, Tom Calloway, considers Terrell a nonstarter without the requisite skills to take over in anything more than an interim capacity. As for the other three candidates, only one is even known to the board, and none has any significant international experience. Calloway is well aware of how critical Bennett is to Astar. But he's equally certain that the board risks failing in its fiduciary responsibilities if it doesn't create a viable succession plan. What should Calloway and the board do if Bennett refuses to cooperate? Commenting on this fictional case study in R0609A and R0609Z are John W. Rowe, the executive chairman of Aetna; Edward Reilly, the president and CEO of the American Management Association; Jay A. Conger, a professor at Claremont McKenna College and London Business School; Douglas A. Ready, a visiting professor at London Business School; and Michael Jordan, the CEO of EDS.

Edward Bennett has done wonders at Astar Enterprises. In the 15 years he's been CEO, the company has more than tripled in size through product line extension and disciplined acquisitions and is now distributing its cleaning, personal hygiene, and skin care products nationwide. But Astar's chief executive is 64 years old, and while all his attention is taken up with a new strategy to expand into international markets, board members are becoming increasingly worried about the issue of succession. Bennett wants none of it, arguing that if he were to die suddenly, his second in command, Tom Terrell, could take over. Besides, after much prodding, Bennett, former vice-chairman Vincent Dalton, and longtime HR head Gail Thompson have already come up with a list of four possibilities. "When will these guys back off?" Bennett complains to Thompson. "I've told them who the candidates are. Why do we need to talk about it?" Thompson knows, however, that the board chairman, Tom Calloway, considers Terrell a nonstarter without the requisite skills to take over in anything more than an interim capacity. As for the other three candidates, only one is even known to the board, and none has any significant international experience. Calloway is well aware of how critical Bennett is to Astar. But he's equally certain that the board risks failing in its fiduciary responsibilities if it doesn't create a viable succession plan. What should Calloway and the board do if Bennett refuses to cooperate? Commenting on this fictional case study in R0609A and R0609Z are John W. Rowe, the executive chairman of Aetna; Edward Reilly, the president and CEO of the American Management Association; Jay A. Conger, a professor at Claremont McKenna College and London Business School; Douglas A. Ready, a visiting professor at London Business School; and Michael Jordan, the CEO of EDS.