BETTY’S POST: In my opinion, my organization has the building blocks to be a learning organization, but remains mostly traditional. My perspective was confirmed when I read Dr. Cato’s discussion. The aspect of succession planning being better supported in the learning organization and sometimes being fragmented resonated with me as I considered my organization. There are fragmented aspects for succession planning for emerging nurse leaders. My manager often refers to how she views her assistant managers as her succession plan, and is supportive of learning. However, she does not include me in certain aspects of managing the unit, such as budgeting. The last two assistant managers of the ICU have assumed management roles within the organization, one even moving on into a director role. The manager talks about how the charge nurses and I are her succession plan, especially as she looks to retirement. In the last year, the chief nursing officer (CNO) started a council for the assistant managers in which she stated she wanted to mentor us as future leaders for the organization. However, the CNO has also stated that ICU assistant managers should never be the succession plan for the ICU management position and must have oversight of a med surg unit prior to taking on the ICU. I have contemplated this statement and see both sides of it. In one regard, I believe it is valuable to have a global perspective and have ownership of a smaller department before taking on a critical care area. On the flip side, why is it automatically no to that being the succession plan? If the assistant manager was in a successful succession plan, it seems the individual should be considered. It feels the succession plan is fragmented to me, but I also wonder if I feel that way because it is not clearly outlined what I need to do. I do not feel that the organization has a whole engages in succession planning. How have other’s organizations implemented successful succession planning?
