I was working with an executive recently who, on paper, was on her way to thetop.
Years of experience. Excellent problem solver. The ambition to keep pushing theorganization forward. She'd built well-rounded teams; the kind other leaderspoint to as a model. She was in the "right" leadership developmentprograms. She had the right network behind her. Everything you'd expect fromsomeone who was going to keep climbing and take her organization with her.
Except one thing.
She didn't have a pipeline. Not the leaders she'd need to develop underneathher. She'd invested in leadership development for years, sending people toconferences and connecting them with mentors. What she hadn't built was astructured, internal path that showed those leaders where they were headednext.
When I named that gap out loud, her response was immediate: "I didn’tconsider this." Followed quickly by, "I know I should be thinkingabout my successor, but I don't know how to do that."
That moment is more common than most executives want to admit.
Why This Gap Hides in Plain Sight
A leadership pipeline is easy to overlook because it’s not sexy or appear to bean obvious problem, like a missed revenue target or a resignation does. It sitsquietly underneath the organizational chart, invisible until the exact momentyou need it and don't have it.
Here's what a leadership pipeline is not: it's not an outsourced trainingexercise, a program you hand to HR to manage in isolation, or a mentorshipbuddy system. A real leadership pipeline is a strategic plan that lives insideyour organization. It maps out, clearly, how someone at any level can learn andgrow into leadership within your specific culture and skill requirements. It'sinfrastructure, not an event.
The data backs up how widespread this blind spot is. SHRM research has foundthat only 21% of HR professionals report having a formal succession plan inplace, and 56% say their organization has none. Deloitte's research points to asimilar pattern, with only 35% of organizations reporting a formalizedsuccession planning process for their most critical roles. Most leaders areoperating without one, even when everything else about their leadershipdevelopment looks polished.
What It Costs You When It's Missing
Without a pipeline, you lose more than an attractive org chart. You lose directaccess to your best internal candidates the moment a leadership role opens. Youlose the time and cost savings of not running an external search from scratch.You lose continuity, because internal candidates already understand yourculture and how things get done. And you lose the ability to quickly identifywho is ready now, who is close, and where the real skill gaps sit.
That last point is more important than people think. A pipeline benefits youdirectly as the executive at the top. It surfaces the people motivated enough toguide their own growth, and it gives you a clear read on the skills alreadyavailable inside your organization versus the gaps you'll need to close as itscales. I wrote about this same pattern of ambition outpacing infrastructure in Price of Growing Without a Leadership Development Strategy, and it shows up inalmost every organization I work with.
What This Actually Looks Like in Practice
When I explained this to the executive I mentioned earlier, the shift for herwasn't complicated. A leadership pipeline would have helped her identify apotential successor quickly, internal or not, and shown her exactly what skillsthat person still needed to develop.
That's not a major overhaul. That's a conversation, one she could schedule thisweek. It starts with naming who on your team is closest to ready, being honestabout what's still missing, and mapping a simple path to close that gap. Theorganizations that get this right don't wait until a leader gives notice tostart thinking about it. If you want to see how this connects to the traininginvestments you're already making, Cost of Untrained Leadership in Growing Organizations is a good next read.
If you've built strong teams, invested in your own development, and surroundedyourself with the right network, but still couldn't name your likely successor ifasked today, you're not behind. You're missing the one piece that turnseverything else you've built into something that lasts beyond you.
Where to Start
Before you bring in outside help or build a formal program, it's worth gettingclear on where your training and development strategy stands right now. That'sthe first step, and it's one you can take in minutes.
Take the free Training Alignment Assessment Quiz at www.drcarriegraham.com to see whereyour organization's training and leadership development strategy is working,and where the gaps are quietly costing you.
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