Develop successors who will surpass you
Invest in your successor’s success as a deliberate act of institutional ambition.
Key takeaways
- What it is: Invest in your successor’s success as a deliberate act of institutional ambition.
- Why it works: Collins found that Level 5 leaders consistently set up successors for greatness. The mechanism is outward-directed ambition: if you care more about the institution than your own legacy, you want the person after you to exceed you — and you engineer that outcome deliberately, rather than choosing someone unlikely to outshine you.
- Evidence: Backed by observational / correlational evidence.
- Avoid: Choosing successors who are competent but unlikely to outshine you — which is a self-serving decision dressed up as prudence.
Why it works
Collins found that Level 5 leaders consistently set up successors for greatness. The mechanism is outward-directed ambition: if you care more about the institution than your own legacy, you want the person after you to exceed you — and you engineer that outcome deliberately, rather than choosing someone unlikely to outshine you.
How to do it
- 1Identify potential successors early and invest in their development systematically.
- 2Give successors high-stakes responsibility with genuine support before you leave.
- 3Measure your leadership effectiveness partly by whether those you developed have grown in capability.
- 4Resist keeping your best people in roles that serve your current needs at the expense of their development.
What the evidence says
ObservationalResearch on succession planning consistently finds that deliberate investment in succession is one of the strongest predictors of organizational continuity after leadership transitions.
Honest caveat: The Collins finding is retrospective and comparative. Controlled trials on "developing successors who surpass you" as an isolated intervention do not exist.
Common mistake
Choosing successors who are competent but unlikely to outshine you — which is a self-serving decision dressed up as prudence.
IX Coach asks about the people you’re developing, not just your own goals — expanding your definition of success to include the growth of those around you.
Practice this with IX Coach →