Strategic Insights
Perspectives on people strategy, leadership development, and board governance.
Some Roles Carry More Risk Than Their Title Suggests
Some of the highest-risk roles in a company never make a critical-role list, because nothing about the title suggests they belong there.
Read ArticleIdentify People Risk Then Manage It
Finding your organization's people risk is the easy half of the work. Managing it before a critical role opens is where most leadership teams fall short.
Read ArticleThe Hardest Part of Succession Planning Is Telling the Truth
A succession plan is only as good as the readiness ratings behind it. Here's why leaders rate their own people too high, and how to change the review.
Read ArticleWhat a Succession Chart Does Not Tell You
A succession chart with every box filled can feel reassuring, but if the evidence behind it hasn't been tested, you don't have a plan. You have a list of names.
Read ArticleWhere Leadership Risk Actually Lives
Most critical-role lists come straight off the org chart, which tracks hierarchy. Hierarchy and risk measure different things, and the two lists hardly ever match.
Read ArticleRemove the Names From the Boxes
Naming a successor too early turns succession planning into a conversation about personalities. Removing the names first is what actually exposes where the risk lives.
Read ArticleHow Excessive Reporting Hides Risk
Most organizations have more reporting on talent and succession than ever before. Yet still struggle to answer a basic question: where are we actually exposed?
Read ArticleWhen Plant-Level HR Becomes a Blind Spot
The strength of human resources at the plant level shapes more than hiring and paperwork. It defines culture, safeguards compliance, and influences the quality of leadership that sustains performance.
Read ArticleLeadership Development System
Sometimes boards treat leadership development, succession planning, and executive compensation as separate decisions. The issue is that incentives, development, and succession are not intentionally designed to reinforce the same outcome.
Read ArticleSerious Succession
Boards often don’t have a clear view of leadership depth, readiness, or culture until a transition forces the issue. By then, decisions become reactive, and options narrow.
Read ArticleRisks Boards Can’t Delegate
Leadership continuity and culture belong in the boardroom. They are governance responsibilities, not routine HR updates.
Read ArticleRead a Culture in the First 30 Minutes
You can learn more in 30 minutes on the floor than in hours of presentations. Data confirms what you see. It rarely reveals what’s being ignored.
Read Article3 Lessons That Turn HR Leaders into Enterprise Leaders
The true test of an HR leader is judgment: the ability to see around corners, align people decisions with business outcomes.
Read ArticleThe Board’s Blind Spot
Succession planning is not an HR exercise. It is a fiduciary duty and a core responsibility of governance.
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