Effective succession planning is essential for governing boards to maintain strong leadership, ensure continuity, and avoid crises. The Succession Breeds Success guide, developed by the National Association of Governance Advisory Services (NAGAS), provides a structured approach to building leadership capacity within boards, from recruitment through to chairing.
Strong governance doesn’t happen by chance – it’s the result of planning, collaboration and a clear vision for leadership. Governing boards face increasing challenges: attracting skilled volunteers, maintaining continuity, and ensuring that leadership roles are filled by confident, capable individuals. This guide sets out practical steps to embed succession planning into the culture of your governing board. By adopting these strategies, boards can build resilience, strengthen team dynamics and ensure that leadership thrives well into the future.
This is the fourth edition of the National Association of Governance Advisory Services (NAGAS) document “Succession Breeds Success” which has been created to assist boards in managing the succession process in a positive and constructive way so that governance and board leadership, including local tier governance in MATs, is strong and effective in holding the school or organisation to account. It may be used in whole or part by governors, trustees, governance professionals, service providers and others, on the understanding NAGAS is acknowledged as the source.