Changes in Leadership and CEO Succession - Essay Example

Leadership and Change of Changes in Leadership and CEO Succession Introduction The paper aims to discuss variousaspects of leadership and changes in leadership. Furthermore, it discusses the CEO succession practices that the board of members of the organization can follow to sustain the excellence in the leadership of CEO. The management and other employees of the company follow the vision of the company’s founder. To follow the vision, the CEO plays the most important role in guiding the pathway and leading from front (Ghosh, 2012). To talk more about CEO succession, the legendary founder of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet is the best role model. Berkshire Hathaway Incorporation is operating in the conglomerate industry since 1955. Since then, the company is thriving and running its successful ventures in the industry. Warren Buffet built an amazing record in the company with his remarkable leadership skills that does not only gave the direction but also ensured that the employees and other staff members are following his direction along him. At the time when Warren Buffet took control of Berkshire Hathaway, the company was only dealing in the textile business, the strategies of savvy deal making by Warren led the company to a great success and converted the textile industry into conglomerate industry in the next 50 years. Berkshire Hathaway Succession Plan In recent times, Warren Buffet is looking to convey his succession plan to other eligible members of the company. Undoubtedly, as a CEO, Warren alone with his leadership skills has developed and brought the company to a stage where several minds could think to reach. The company must bring changes in its leadership roles with time after reaching a certain level of success, one succession plan could be helpful and entertaining till a certain period, and then the company has to adopt some changes in its leadership management and its succession plan. Berkshire Hathaway was living on a succession phenomenon where the company was afraid to release a title icon from a seat. It is also a fact that new and fresh minds could bring more succession plans by combining their minds with the experienced mind. Berkshire Hathaway has also implied the same formula for its giant venture (Rothwell, 2010). In my opinion, Berkshire Hathaway has performed an outstanding and remarkable job in the industry. The whole industry and management teams are now in the resonance of the company’s success. It is the right time for Berkshire Hathaway to prepare for the succession. Warren Buffet is now 80 years of age, and his great experience, the internal position holders should adopt strong decision-making strategies, and leading skills. The employees in the company including investors and planners are now capable to take the responsibility and work for the company’s betterment. Considering the near success of Berkshire Hathaways market value, which is expected to rise to $200 billion that is even more than Google or General Electric, the company now needs to account its succession plan in a way that it can sustain its current position and its image in the market. Possible Succession Plan Options The company has many suitable solutions to carry out the succession plan in the organization. The option of selling off different companies within Berkshire Hathaway to other companies would not be a great idea in my opinion. The preference of giving the charge to Warren Buffet’s son Howard Graham Buffet or any of his sons would not be ideal as well. The management and people who have worked with Warren Buffet or those who have skills like Buffet are much eligible for the CEO’s seat. It is not always true that father’s qualities would be inherited by any of his children, or maybe they need more practice to reach up to his level and achieve the success level. An option of hiring a talented CEO from another firm would be a treat for the company as he would already have an experience of being the CEO of a company, and he would be aware of the business and its issues. However, there are some cons to hiring the external person at a level where the company is thriving and cannot bear any risk associated with hiring an individual from another company (Mattone, 2013). The company could also choose one of the top managers from Berkshire Hathaway. It could be the best option for the company to take. As every individual in the Berkshire’s management is aware of the ups and downs of the company and the strategies the company is already following. Selecting a single person from a group of individuals would be a difficult task that can create differences among the company’s managers. The differences among the management could affect the company’s performance as well. In my opinion, leadership skills can be present in any person not specifically in top managers. Berkshire Hathaway has an outstanding business portfolio that makes the company different from many. The company can develop a unique succession plan by involving every individual from the top and middle-level management of the company into the line of CEO challenge. The company can ask for the innovative business strategies what those participants can offer and design for the company’s sustainability and increase its performance for the long run. These managers would spend their time with Warren Buffet to observe him and his skills. Warren Buffet could teach them basics and tactics of becoming a successful leader. This strategy could help Warren Buffet to observe the potential in the candidates. Spending time with the candidates will be helpful to realize their sense of responsibility, engagement in leadership skills, critical thinking in the business matters, decision making skills in both short and long terms, level of commitment towards the company, and approach to developing their personal career. After observing, candidates will be asked to design a business plan and project the future success of the business. It will be helpful and it will clear the objective of the succession plan at the same time. The succession plan of the company could also align itself with the successful succession plan like those companies that are already popular for their succession planning like IBM, Pepsi, P&G, etc. Conclusion On the basis of the discussion presented in this paper, it could be concluded that the company has a better option of selecting the CEO from the top or middle management level comprising of individuals who have either worked with Warren Buffet or they have an excellent understanding and knowledge of the business and its values. References Ghosh, P. (2012, February 29). Warren Buffett: The once and future king of Berkshire-Hathaway. Retrieved from http://www.ibtimes.com/warren-buffett-once-future-king-berkshire-hathaway-214162. Mattone, J. (2013). Powerful succession planning. New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt. Rothwell, W. J. (2010). Effective succession planning: Ensuring leadership continuity and building talent from within. New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt. Read More