Who has Leadership Potential in Your Company?

Part of planning a successful succession is finding the right person to pass the torch to.

That means identifying those in your organization who have leadership potential.

Scot Hunsaker is aquatics veteran and managing partner of Ardent Group, a consulting firm that helps companies transition to new ownership. In his latest column on succession planning for PSN sister publication Aquatics International, Hunsaker describes how he found a leader in a receptionist who quickly rose to a leadership position within his previous firm, Counsilman-Hunsaker.

He found leaders like her by involving employees in strategic planning, allowing them to grow beyond their job descriptions.

"We were lucky to have a person like Macy in our company. A‐players like that are hard to find. And that is just the point. How often do we overlook people who have the leadership ingredients but nowhere to go with them? This does not happen because we do not care, but because there is no basis or path to leadership outside of pure instinct," says Hunsaker. "This matters in the context of building a legacy for your organization. No matter what you may decide you would like to do with your business, there is a need for knowledgeable leaders who know how to make decisions."