TODAY’S business environment is increasingly fluid and unpredictable.
The world is more interconnected and globalised than ever before, meaning that events happening thousands of kilometres away can instantly shape local business realities.
A currency fluctuation in Europe or geopolitical conflict can have ripple effects in Zimbabwe.
Likewise, if a multinational company in East Asia “catches a cold,” companies in Zimbabwe can end up sneezing.
At a local level, succession challenges are even more visible. The sudden death of a general manager can plunge an entire organisation into confusion if leadership succession has not been properly planned.
Zimbabwe offers numerous examples of once-thriving companies that collapsed after the passing on of their founders.
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The decline of businesses such as Mhunga Bus Services, Kukura Kurerwa and many others speaks to the danger of leadership that reacts to the present but fails to plan for the future.
Stories are often told of indigenous churches that fractured soon after the passing on of their founders. In many cases, this fragmentation can be traced to cultural traditions rather than strategic succession planning. Within African customs, leadership in the family is typically assumed to pass to the eldest son or the senior relative. While this tradition may honour lineage, it does not always guarantee capable leadership.
The reality is that seniority does not automatically translate to vision, competence or the ability to unite and guide religious followers. Leadership requires emotional intelligence, strategic thinking, communication skills, organisational ability and the trust of the people — not just age or birth order.
When succession is based solely on seniority, organisations and churches become vulnerable. Rather than continuity, conflict may arise as some factions rally behind individuals believed to be more capable. Instead of a smooth transition, institutions face internal divisions, weakening their mission and, in some cases, leading to complete collapse.
This demonstrates a critical truth: leadership is not inherited; it is cultivated. Successful organisations are now recognising hence are preparing leaders well before the moment of transition. Without intentional leadership development and succession planning, even the strongest institutions can fail when the founding leader is no longer present.
In contrast, certain business communities offer valuable lessons. Many Indian-owned enterprises in Zimbabwe deliberately involve their children in the day-to-day running of family businesses. This is not accidental — it is intentional leadership grooming aimed at ensuring continuity should anything happen to the founder.
Similarly, in the 1980s, many white farming families adopted a systematic approach to succession. Their children were sent to top private schools where they completed studies alongside practical qualifications such as Diplomas in Agriculture. This ensured that once they returned home, they were not just heirs, but competent managers equipped to sustain and scale the family farming business. These examples demonstrate that succession is not an event — it is a process. It is about preparing leaders before the need arises.
With a new wave of black entrepreneurship emerging in Zimbabwe, propelled by favourable empowerment policies, the hope is that business founders will follow similar principles to ensure continuity.
Organisations must ensure that today’s entrepreneurial achievements do not die with their founders, but are passed on to capable hands for the next generation.
In this context, leadership development and succession planning have become strategic imperatives.
Modern institutions cannot depend on luck, tradition or informal mentoring to produce leaders. They must implement structured, intentional and future-oriented systems that develop leadership capacity at every level.
Leadership today is not defined by titles but by the ability to influence others, drive strategy, deliver results and create lasting value. Successful organisations understand leadership as a continuous pipeline that begins long before someone assumes a managerial position.
Succession planning, therefore, plays a vital role in preserving institutional memory, ensuring organisational stability and enabling smooth transitions that protect performance during periods of change.
This evolution is also reflected in leadership development practices. What was once based on informal knowledge transfer has transformed into evidence-driven programmes aligned with organisational goals.
Organisations now recognise that effective leadership development requires early identification of high-potential talent and sustained investment in their growth.
Research consistently confirms that organisations with strong leadership development systems outperform those without. They achieve higher profitability, greater innovation, stronger employee engagement, and improved resilience in turbulent environments.
Leadership development is, therefore, no longer just a human resources responsibility; it is a core business function directly tied to strategic success.
In Zimbabwe, this reality is already shaping business practice. Many organisations have introduced graduate trainee programmes and cadetships as deliberate succession pipelines. These programmes act as conveyor belts of leadership — recruiting talented young graduates, exposing them to different functional areas, embedding them in the organisational culture and preparing them to take up leadership roles in the future. Instead of waiting for leadership gaps to emerge, organisations are now building their talent bench proactively.
Ultimately, leadership development and succession planning are the backbone of organisational sustainability. They ensure that today’s talent becomes tomorrow’s leadership, securing continuity, competitiveness and long-term prosperity.
Organisations that embrace these principles not only survive change; they thrive in it.