Fill your boots: How to succeed at succession

One day you’ll be leaving that post you worked so hard to get. And whether you’re moving to an enticing new role or leaving to put your feet up, you probably don’t want to leave an expert-shaped hole in your team. 

But transitions are not easy to make seamlessly.  

According to Adam Slingsby CMgr FCMI, learning and development lead at Firmus Energy, succession “needs careful planning and the correct implementation to ensure maximum success”.

For an example, consider Bernard Arnault, patriarch of fashion giant LVMH, a family business worth nearly €400bn. Arnault, now 75, kept his five children close to the business as they were growing up, and each has been paired with a top executive to serve as a mentor. Each child has a management role somewhere in the group and an equal vote in its affairs. But Arnault knows how high the stakes are, so he has also appointed Stéphane Bianchi, a veteran of family succession at cosmetics group Yves Rocher, as his right-hand man to ensure that critical outside perspective.