What if a key person were immediately and permanently unavailable? What would you do? It’s not a “who’s going to cover for” situation but “who’s going to take over?” Many leaders tell me it will take months, even years, to get someone ready for a key position. Yet they don’t prepare. Then when something happens (for instance: a key employee leaves the organization), the challenge becomes real, TODAY. The funny thing is: we figure it out in the moment because we have to but it’s rough and stressful.
Question:
What if you made an Emergency Replacement Plan now for each of your key people? Posit that each leaves without warning; how will you get who’s next up to speed essentially overnight because you have to? What have you learned that you will start now to cross-train and prepare for tomorrow?
