What if success wasn’t about scaling, dominating, or leaving your mark—but instead about what continues to grow after you’ve moved on?
In nature, success is measured not by longevity or control, but by succession—the process through which ecosystems evolve, regenerate, and hand over leadership to what comes next. A thriving meadow doesn’t stay static. It gives way to shrubs, which give way to forests. Each phase prepares the soil for the next. No ego, no permanence—just a rhythm of renewal and contribution.
As leaders, especially in today’s volatile world, we’re invited to rethink what legacy really means. Is it the title we held? The size of our following? Or is it the ecosystem we leave behind—the capacity we nurtured in others, the health of the organization, the culture that can thrive without us?
But before we can model our leadership on nature’s succession principles, we need to get clear on what we’re actually trying to achieve.
First, Define Success—Carefully
Not everything that “works” is success. A bank robber can be successful at robbing banks—but at what cost?
Leadership is no different. We must ask: Success for whom? At what cost? Too often, success is measured in short-term wins—revenue spikes, media recognition, or shareholder returns. But if that success depletes people, exhausts teams, harms the planet, or ignores the needs of future generations, it isn’t success. It’s extraction.
Nature doesn’t tolerate extraction without renewal. Systems that take too much collapse. In contrast, healthy ecosystems build capacity over time. They give back more than they take. And that’s the version of success we should be aiming for—one that sustains, regenerates, and prepares the way for others.
So what does this regenerative approach actually look like in practice? Nature shows us through succession.
Nature’s Definition of Success: Succession
In ecological terms, succession is the process by which ecosystems evolve through stages, gradually becoming more stable, diverse, and resilient. After disturbance, hardy pioneer species move in. But they’re not the final story. Their presence creates better conditions—richer soil, new shelter, restored nutrients—so that the next wave of species can thrive.
This is more than a metaphor. It’s a leadership principle.
Founders, entrepreneurs, innovators—they often serve as the “pioneers.” But great leadership doesn’t stop at starting things. It asks: Am I preparing the conditions for others to succeed after me?
Holding on too long, hoarding control, or failing to plan for what’s next weakens the whole system. Real success is measured not in tenure, but in what you’ve made possible—and who you’ve equipped to carry it forward.
The key insight here is shifting how we think about what succession actually represents.
Succession Isn’t Replacement. It’s Regeneration.
Many organizations treat succession as a problem to solve when someone leaves. But in living systems, succession is a natural process—a signal of health. It ensures the whole continues to thrive, even when individual parts shift or step away.
This is what regenerative succession looks like in leadership:
- You develop talent early, not urgently.
- You normalize transition, rather than fear it.
- You build a culture where no one is indispensable—because everyone is invested.
- You lead with humility, not permanence.
Succession, done well, isn’t about stepping aside. It’s about setting things in motion that can outlast you.
This philosophy sounds compelling, but does it actually work in the real world of business pressures and bottom lines?
The Business Case for Succession as Success
This isn’t just a poetic idea. It’s a strategic one—and the cost of ignoring it is steep.
The cost of failure: When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, he found a company that had nearly collapsed in his absence. Despite his earlier success building Apple, he hadn’t prepared it to thrive without him. The lesson? Even brilliant founders can fail their own organizations if they don’t build for succession.
Here’s what the data shows:
Poor succession planning increases leadership failure risk by 30% during disruptions (Gartner). Companies with strong leadership pipelines are 2.2x more likely to outperform in long-term revenue growth (McKinsey). High turnover in top roles without preparation leads to costly instability, low morale, and broken stakeholder trust.
In contrast, succession-focused companies consistently:
- Retain high-potential talent who see clear growth opportunities
- Navigate leadership transitions without losing momentum
- Strengthen innovation through shared decision-making
- Build deeper trust with stakeholders, investors, and employees
Real-world examples:
Patagonia offers the gold standard. When founder Yvon Chouinard stepped away, he didn’t just appoint a new CEO—he restructured the entire company. Ownership was placed in a trust and nonprofit to protect Patagonia’s environmental mission indefinitely. This wasn’t an exit—it was regenerative design that embedded purpose beyond the person.
Microsoft offers a valuable contrast. When Steve Ballmer announced his departure as CEO in 2013, the company’s scrambled response revealed they lacked adequate succession planning—despite Ballmer underperforming for years. The eventual appointment of insider Satya Nadella worked out well, but the process highlighted how even tech giants can be caught unprepared for leadership transitions.
Succession isn’t just good stewardship. It’s good strategy.
But knowing succession matters and actually building it into your leadership practice are two different things. Here’s how to bridge that gap.
How to Lead Like a Succession System
If you’re serious about future-ready, regenerative leadership, here’s how to build succession into your leadership practice:
Create systems, not dependencies
- Document your decision-making frameworks and teach others to use them
- Build processes that work when you’re not in the room
- Replace “Ask me first” with clear decision-making authority at every level
Practice distributed leadership
- Rotate who leads key meetings and projects
- Give others your platform—let them present to executives, lead client calls, represent the team
- Create space for others to challenge your perspective and change your mind
Develop people before you need them
- Identify potential successors 2-3 levels down, not just direct reports
- Give stretch assignments that prepare people for bigger roles
- Share your network—introduce emerging leaders to key contacts and opportunities
Make growth the norm
- Celebrate when people outgrow their roles rather than trying to keep them
- Plan for transitions as signs of health, not threats to stability
- Create “promotion pathways” that people can see and work toward
Test your systems regularly
- Take real vacations where you’re truly unreachable
- Let others run important initiatives from start to finish
- Ask yourself: “If I left tomorrow, what would break?” Then fix those things.
Final Thought
We’re in an era where the definition of success is shifting—and urgently so. The old model of indispensable leadership isn’t just unsustainable; it’s becoming a competitive disadvantage.
Nature offers us a better blueprint: one where success is measured by how well life continues, adapts, and flourishes after us. The meadow doesn’t cling to being a meadow forever. It creates the conditions for the forest.
Lead for succession. Lead for regeneration. Lead for a world that doesn’t end with you—but grows because of you.