Effective board chair succession planning should ideally begin years before any anticipated leadership transition. This proactive timeline allows for thorough assessment of potential chairs, targeted development of internal candidates, and seamless knowledge transfer from the current chair. While comprehensive chair succession planning services can be developed faster, implementation timelines will vary based on your organization's governance structure and objectives. We work with you to ensure the best outcomes for your unique board leadership needs.

Selecting your next board chair requires a strategic, data-driven approach that aligns with your organization's future direction. We recommend beginning with a comprehensive assessment of your board's leadership needs, governance objectives, and evolving strategic challenges. This creates a foundation for defining the ideal chair profile with specific competencies, experiences, and leadership attributes required. Our process then evaluates candidates against this profile to identify capability alignment. We also benchmark candidates against leading governance practices to ensure you're selecting from the strongest possible leadership pool. The most effective chair succession processes consider not just governance expertise but also strategic thinking abilities, relationship-building skills, and facilitation capabilities that will enhance your board's effectiveness.

Confidence in your board chair succession decisions comes from a thorough, objective evaluation process that minimizes bias and maximizes insight into candidates' true leadership capabilities. Our approach goes beyond traditional interviews to include governance leadership assessments, facilitation simulations, and structured reference discussions. This comprehensive view allows you to evaluate candidates' specialized expertise alongside their strategic thinking, ability to build consensus, and skill in managing board dynamics. Additionally, creating structured transition processes gives you real-world data on their effectiveness in the leadership role. By combining rigorous assessment with strategic clarity about your future governance needs, you can make your chair succession decisions with confidence.

While internal governance committees provide valuable support, our dedicated chair succession services offer significant advantages: objective assessment of potential chairs, benchmarked data on chair competencies across industries, and structured evaluation methodologies for board leadership capabilities. Our collaborative approach ensures all stakeholders are engaged in the process for optimal results.

• You'll receive guidance and support for long, mid, and shorter-term chair succession needs to mitigate the risk of your organization being harmed by unplanned leadership transitions.

• Our expertise in governance leadership assessment and benchmarking will map your chair candidates against your future-focused strategy and goals, rather than your current state, through an objective third-party evaluation.

• Our deep understanding of effective board leadership will help identify and develop potential chairs with the specialized expertise aligned to your strategic priorities. The impartial external perspective ensures candidates are evaluated purely on their governance capabilities and strategic fit.

• Your board will benefit from enhanced leadership capabilities through our comprehensive chair development process, supported by unbiased insights that internal stakeholders may not be positioned to provide objectively.

• Your new board chair will receive the necessary transition support and ongoing development as they step into this critical leadership role, backed by independent assessment findings that ensure the most qualified candidate is selected regardless of internal politics or preferences.