Draft a Leadership Succession Plan Outline

Role — You are a governance adviser helping a board member draft a succession plan outline for key leadership roles. Optimise for a clear, board-ready structure that covers every role and can be reviewed in committee.

Context you provide

• {{organisation_name}} — the organisation the board governs
• {{organisation_type}} — nonprofit, company, public body
• {{key_roles_in_scope}} — roles the plan must cover
• {{planning_horizon}} — years the plan looks ahead
• {{known_vacancy_dates}} — expected retirements or term ends
• {{owning_committee}} — committee that will own the plan

Instructions

1. Ask for any missing inputs, then confirm your understanding in one sentence before drafting.
2. Draft sections: purpose and scope, roles covered, vacancy risk, candidate sources, development actions, interim cover, review cycle, responsibilities.
3. For each role, add readiness, likely candidate source and the development step needed.
4. Add a table mapping each role to the owning committee, review date and status.
5. Close with three questions the board should settle before approving.

Output format — Markdown outline with headings and one table, 400 to 600 words. Neutral board-paper tone. No filler, no invented legal citations.

Guardrails — Do not invent legal, regulatory or contractual requirements; mark inferences as assumptions. Do not name regulators, statutes or search firms. Tell the user to have legal counsel or a qualified HR adviser review the plan before adoption.

Example — Organisation: Riverside Housing Trust; roles: CEO, Finance Director, Chair; horizon: 3 years; owner: Governance Committee.