1.9 Organizational Leadership Development and Succession Planning Diagnostic (Bridgespan) 

Purpose 

Recognizing that leadership transitions represent a significant vulnerability, The Bridgespan Group created this tool, which nonprofits can use to evaluate and improve their leadership pipelines and talent development strategies. The main goal of this instrument is to assess to what extent an organization is developing leaders and preparing for leadership succession. It aims to identify strengths and weaknesses in leadership pipelines, ensuring that organizations are equipped to manage transitions in senior leadership roles effectively.

The instrument is designed for use by nonprofit organizations, specifically targeting senior leadership teams, HR departments, and board members responsible for leadership development and succession planning. By employing this tool, nonprofits can mitigate risks associated with leadership transitions, enhance organizational resilience, and ensure sustained effectiveness in fulfilling their missions.

Description 

The instrument was developed by The Bridgespan Group, Inc., an organization dedicated to addressing leadership and strategy challenges within the nonprofit sector and non-governmental organizations. The instrument primarily uses a survey format, which may include both Likert-type questions and open-ended questions to gather comprehensive data on organizational practices and perspectives regarding leadership development and succession planning. The instrument includes questions such as:

To what extent does your organization invest in leadership training programs for emerging leaders?

Does your organization have a formal succession plan in place for senior leadership roles?

How inclusive are your leadership development programs in terms of gender and diversity?

The Bridgespan Group has specific alpha coefficients and correlation measures that could provide evidence of internal consistency and predictive validity, but these metrics are typically shared only with clients. Additionally, organizations might require guidance and support in interpreting the results and implementing recommended strategies based on the findings.

Access 

While the owner of the tool retired this survey from active use, some of the valuable insights it yielded are available in Bridgespan Group’s Nonprofit Leadership Development Toolkit (https://www.bridgespan.org/getmedia/edb0a454-3d18-4aae-8314-f8346e21549b/nonprofit-leadership-development-toolkit.pdf).

References

Center for Creative Leadership. (2017). Organizational Leadership Development and Succession Planning Diagnostic: Technical report.

Center for Creative Leadership. (2018). Organizational Leadership Development and Succession Planning Diagnostic: Predictive validity study.