Page 227 - The Bible On Leadership

Leadership Development 213

transition problem because Clateo Castellini, the heir apparent, had an-
nounced his intention to retire and return to his native Italy. Moreover,
Castellini had little board experience. Becton Dickinson learned from
experience and instituted a more formal succession planning process in
which twice a year all candidates for higher office are reviewed and any
‘‘heirs apparent’’ are given board experience.
David had appointed all the leaders of his cabinet with an eye toward
their executive development and potential, as Jesus had done with the
disciples. It was no accident that this carefully picked group of twelve
men was soon able to develop many times that number of leaders to
spread the message and power of the organization. Once ‘‘the Twelve’’
became ‘‘the Seventy-Two,’’ an inexorable process was set in motion.
And Jesus made sure they had plenty of ‘‘board experience.’’
This ‘‘multiplier effect’’ was used by Ameritech in its ‘‘Each One
Teach One’’ developmental program, which helped it make the transi-
tion from a ‘‘Baby Bell’’ to a diversified high-technology giant. Begin-
ning with its top core of executives (the ‘‘Group of 120’’; seventy-two
wasn’t quite enough), the company launched a process to change the
culture of the remaining 65,000 employees. They brought in 1,000
managers—fifty at a time—for four-day workshops in which the new
mission was communicated. The managers returned to their units to
teach those who worked for them and to initiate projects that opera-
tionalized the new goals and values. The result? A bottom-line im-
provement of $700 million. 21
Executive development and succession cannot be left to ‘‘a wing and
a prayer’’; it must be carefully planned. There is no ‘‘leadership engine’’
without a group of ‘‘engineers’’ who build it and keep it on course. As
Federal Express explains:

Our aim is to infuse our managers with the theory and philosophy and
beliefs that the company has held to and practiced and benefited and grown
from for over twenty-five years. We want to infuse these ideas into our
leaders and have them go out and do the same to their employees. 22

Jay Conger feels that corporate succession planning needs to be more
like the military, where there is a structured and ongoing dedication to