Introduction: The New Perspective on Succession and Leadership

Succession in Brazilian organizations goes far beyond replacing executives or ensuring continuity in family-owned businesses. It is an essential process for guaranteeing business continuity, talent development, and the strengthening of organizational culture.

Family businesses still account for about 90% of companies in the country, sustaining a significant portion of the national GDP and private-sector employment. However, only around 30% of these companies reach the second generation, and less than 5% make it to the third generation.

This data illustrates a truth applicable to any organization: without preparation, succession, and leadership development, there is no sustainable continuity. Career ownership, therefore, is not only about individual growth, but also about creating collective impact—preparing others to grow as well.

1. The Role of Leaders in Developing New Leaders

In modern and competitive organizations, leadership success is directly linked to the ability to develop successors. A leader who does not develop other leaders limits both the organization’s growth and their own career progression.

When a manager is promoted without preparing someone to take over their position, an organizational vacuum is created that impacts productivity, workplace climate, and overall performance delivery.

In addition, it is common for leaders to choose successors based solely on technical knowledge, disregarding the behaviors, mindset, and management competencies required for more complex roles. The result is fragile, misaligned transitions that come at a high cost to the business.

Being a protagonist, therefore, means taking responsibility for the organization’s future and the continuity of leadership. It is about leaving a legacy and actively contributing to the company’s evolution.

2. From Technical Skills to Behavior: What Sets Future Leaders Apart

Recent research reinforces that succession effectiveness is less related to technical expertise and more connected to behavioral maturity.

According to the study *Managerial Skills and Learning Modalities of Family Businesses* (UFF, 2024), socio-practical learning practices—such as mentoring, structured feedback, and real leadership experiences—are the most effective for developing managerial competencies.

While technical training expands knowledge, it is behavior that sustains performance at higher leadership levels, including self-management, systems thinking, empathy, influence, and the ability to build autonomous teams.

3. How to Strengthen Career Ownership and Succession in Organizations

For succession to be natural, strategic, and healthy, it is necessary to structure continuous leadership development practices.
Among the most effective are:

Structured Mentoring: enables the transfer of experience, culture, and organizational vision, accelerating the readiness of new leaders.

Individual Development Plans (IDPs): help map technical and behavioral competencies and track professionals’ progress toward more complex roles.

Behavioral and potential assessment: identifies not only what the professional does, but how they do it—an essential differentiator for leadership roles.
Currently, only 24% of Brazilian companies apply formal leadership succession practices.

Early planning and a feedback culture: preparing leaders before a replacement is needed prevents disruptions, increases engagement, and strengthens internal trust.

4. Benefits of Behavior- and Leadership-Based Succession

Companies that adopt succession as a strategic and continuous practice reap long-term benefits:

· Longevity and operational stability
· Talent retention and reduced turnover
· A culture of development and continuous learning
· Strengthening of organizational identity
· Greater competitiveness and resilience in changing environments

When well managed, succession stops being a risk and becomes a driver of growth and innovation.

Conclusion: Developing New Leaders Is Securing the Future

Career ownership, in today’s corporate context, means taking responsibility for preparing people to lead alongside you and after you.

Companies that build continuous succession plans and leaders who develop successors strengthen not only the present, but the entire organization’s future.

Based on data, behavior, and cultural alignment, we help organizations map, develop, and prepare leaders to be ready for future challenges, ensuring continuity and sustainable performance.

Want to understand how to implement this in your company?
Talk to one of our consultants and discover how to develop today the leaders who will build the future of your business.

References

1. https://gphjournal.org/index.php/er/article/view/1812

2. https://rsdjournal.org/rsd/article/view/44112

3. https://periodicos.uff.br/pca/article/download/61419/36104/217678

4. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/jfbm-05-2024-0104/full/pdf