The question isn't where to find a successor, but whether the business has made room for one to grow.
Many business owners say they can't find anyone capable enough. But look closely at how the organization runs and almost no important decision is ever fully handed down. People can't grow into a role in which they are only allowed to make proposals.
Delegating tasks is not delegating authority
Delegating tasks means giving someone a to-do list. Delegating authority means giving them a result to achieve, a budget, a threshold within which they may decide, and accountability if they get it wrong. Most businesses stop at the first and then wonder why their team is passive.
- Pick the two or three positions with the greatest impact on results over the next three years.
- For each position, write down three decisions that person must be able to make on their own after twelve months.
- Design a path for them to practise exactly those three decisions, with a mentor and an acceptable level of risk.
An organization is only as strong as the decisions it dares to hand over.
There will be mistakes early on; that is the cost of training, not proof that the team isn't ready. What needs to be controlled is the size of the mistakes, not how often authority is delegated.