Succession planning advice

Co-leadership is often chosen as a model after a founder departs, or as part of the transition plan with the founder working alongside a successor or moving from a solo to co-leadership model. The Cosmic and Diverse City case studies involve a founder moving into a co-leadership role, and Fun Palaces, East London Dance all opted for co-leadership after a long-standing leader or founder moved on.  

In 2022, Sandeep Mahal and Claire Antrobus interviewed over 20 people with direct experience of leadership transitions as founders, leaders who replaced founders and their boards to discover what they learned about leaving well and planning for a change of leader. Succession can be a very unsettling process for the outgoing leader and organisation alike and we wanted to share the wisdom of those who candidly shared their experiences.  

Please feel free to download our guide for trustees and the guide for leaders.  

The guides were designed by Varyah.