the president. In addition to reviewing the information coming out of the development program, the board needs to have direct and regular contact with all the promising candidates. Some of the contact should be formal. For instance, candidates should make regular presentations at board meetings. But informal connections are also crucial. Board members need to take the time to get a feel for the personal chemistry of the candidates - to have causal conversations over dinner or lunch, for example. There is a need for both formal and informal contacts to make sound judgements.It is also important to try to establish situations in which the board can see how the candidates relate to their peers. It is not enough just to look at how they act with the board. Many talented executives who are very effective in their current jobs do not handle "real" authority well. It is hard to measure that capacity, but one can get a sense of it by seeing how individuals relate to their colleagues.It is important that the board make sure that the succession process begins about four or five years before the president is expected to step down. This time frame gives room for maneuver if necessary, and that is important. The board has to identify candidates who could be moved to the top of the organization. If there is only one real candidate to succeed the president, the president needs to go out and bring new people into the top ranks of the company - to get the pool of successors up to three or four strong candidates. Getting these new people established and reviewing their performance takes time, so the board needs to insist that the process start early.The candidate who looks best early in the process may not be the one who looks best later. This requires great communication between board members, which does not always exist. Often times the effective decision-making process in undermined because the board is passive, and board members are f...
