A succession chart can name people without doing much to prepare them. The next step is to connect each critical role with the experience a potential successor still needs and the opportunities that could help them gain it.
Describe readiness in practical terms
Choose a role and list the decisions, relationships, and responsibilities that make it demanding. Then compare those requirements with what you have actually observed from a potential successor.
Avoid relying on a single label such as ready soon. Someone may be prepared to manage a larger team but need experience presenting to a board. Another person may have strong technical judgment but limited exposure to cross-functional decisions.
Offer work that builds the missing experience
Match development activities to the gap. A stretch assignment, temporary responsibility, mentoring relationship, or project across departments can be useful when it gives the person relevant practice.
Be clear about the assignment’s purpose, decision boundaries, and support. Stretch work should not mean handing someone a difficult problem with no authority or feedback and then judging them for struggling.
Review the evidence together
Set a date to discuss what the person learned and how they approached the work. Ask for their own assessment. What was easier than expected? What remained difficult? What would they handle differently next time?
Update the development plan as the organization’s needs change. A person can make meaningful progress while the future role also changes shape.
Keep the conversation honest: development is an investment in capability, not a guarantee of a specific appointment. Give people room to express whether the path interests them. A stronger leadership bench comes from purposeful experience and candid feedback, not simply from adding more names to a spreadsheet or treating every capable employee as if they want the same career.