Page 226 - The Bible On Leadership
P. 226

212                                 THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP


             didates best prepared to succeed him, and every May and November
             the directors reviewed the files of the top fifteen managers for strengths,
             weaknesses, and future assignments. He was trying to avoid a succession
             process that became ‘‘a bloody dustup’’ of ‘‘poor preparation, out-of-
             control egos, and bad choices.’’
               When Bill Taylor became CEO of CIGNA at age 44, the selection
             of his successor may not have appeared to be a priority. But Taylor
             realized that the age of a CEO is irrelevant in succession planning, since
             emergencies and unplanned events can, and frequently do, arise. He
             made succession planning and management development two of his
             top priorities, discussing the qualifications of two to three replacements
             regularly at board meetings and in-depth once a year. He also wrote a
             letter ‘‘to be opened in the event of my death or disability,’’ which
             recorded what had actually been said at these meetings; he realized that
             in the scramble for power, the data might be subjectively interpreted or
             distorted. Taylor made sure that succession planning extended down
             several layers of the organization, to include business heads and high
             potentials, with a particular emphasis on young managers who would
             be the lifeblood of the organization and who would be the most likely
             to become the next CEO. 19
               David Packard of Hewlett-Packard also realized the importance of
             systematic succession planning, particularly in a company closely identi-
             fied with the personalities and policies of its current leaders. ‘‘The ob-
             ject is to build sufficient strength into the organization so that the future
             of Hewlett-Packard Company is not dependent upon any one or two
                                                             20
             or three people, including Bill [Hewlett] and myself.’’ These two lead-
             ers were not about to fall into the trap of France’s Louis the XIV, who
             proclaimed, ‘‘Apres moi, le deluge,’’ which roughly translates into,
             ‘‘After me, the company’s up for grabs.’’ Nor did they want to use as
             their credo King David’s initial succession philosophy: ‘‘After me, who-
             ever is still standing.’’
               Becton Dickinson realized the need for a more formal succession
             process when Ray Gilmartin suddenly left to become CEO of Merck
             (whose succession plan for the internal candidates also went awry, since
             Gilmartin was an outsider). Becton Dickinson was left with a difficult
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