-- Photo courtesy of The Lawrence Hall of Science
For science centers and museums, succession planning is a strategic response to longstanding workforce challenges, including staff recruitment, turnover, and professional growth. Disruptions over the past six years—from the pandemic to present day—have exacerbated these issues and surfaced critical, fieldwide conversations about how to address them. In 2023, the Association of Science and Technology Center’s Leadership and Field Development Committee put forth a call to action for institutions, and the people who work in them, to develop adaptive capacities—skills, strategies and practices (at both the individual and collective level) for adjusting to and leveraging environmental and economic changes. In this article we put forth an adaptive capacity for workforce development that is often ignored and even feared: succession planning!
Often misunderstood as a “secret” executive process, succession planning is actually an essential equity tool. This article reframes the practice as a transparent, collective effort to build adaptive capacity, ensure leadership continuity and strengthen institutional resilience. Through candid leadership experiences and reflections, we offer insights and strategies to neutralize organizational anxiety and engage in culturally transformative succession planning at science centers and museums.
"The right people, with the right skills, in the right places, at the right time"
Succession planning is an organizational process for anticipating and filling future staffing needs. It is often passively or actively avoided out of fear that it will result in people losing their jobs or being seen as “replaceable.” When done at all, succession it is often led by executive leaders and human resources and mischaracterized (or worse, mis- implemented) as a “top-down,” “exclusive,” or “secret” process for “hand-picking favorites” –adding mystery and fear to the purpose and process. In contrast, we define succession planning as a strategic and transparent organizational process designed to ensure workforce continuity and institutional resilience. It involves identifying future talent needs based on strategic goals and proactively developing a diverse pool of internal candidates through equitable access to training and mentorship. When done effectively, it ensures that an institution has the “right people with the right skills in the right places at the right time” (UC Berkeley People and Culture, 2025).
Proactive succession planning is a vital organizational strategy for both business continuity and sustainability that can promote organizational equity and access in advancement practices. In this article, we are not focusing on how to engage in succession planning, but rather, why leaders should integrate succession planning strategies into their ongoing practices.
Changing the narrative around succession planning
Succession planning is not a standalone administrative task; it is a cultural commitment.
It should be utilized as an inclusive and equitable process for connecting people in the workforce with the right learning opportunities, tools, and support for success. The most effective institutions operate under the belief that leadership is responsible for developing all employees for the future, not just those in high-level roles. By committing to the growth of every team member, we ensure that the “talent pool” is as diverse and prepared as possible. Succession planning builds organizational strength for future success and protects against talent loss and gaps. It requires people to proactively discuss and identify actions that will increase readiness of employees to take on new, refined or expanded roles.
When we redefine succession planning through an equity lens, we can see that true succession planning is a prerequisite for—and a result of—staff engagement and belonging. If employees do not feel they belong or see a future for themselves within the institution, any attempt at succession planning will likely be viewed with skepticism. We must establish a culture where staff feel valued and heard; only then can we have the honest, vulnerable conversations required to plan for their futures and the institution’s longer-term sustainability and wellbeing.
Taking a field-wide perspective is also helpful. Not everyone in each organization will be able to advance within that individual organization. However, through succession planning and talent development we can help staff identify multiple possible advancement pathways both within and across organizations.
Making meaning from our experiences
You may be thinking: Okay, now that you’ve framed succession planning like this, I’m in! How do we begin? You begin by shifting the narrative in your teams and among your peers in leadership positions. You may also be thinking: This sounds hard and time-consuming. Yes, it is hard and it is time consuming. Below we the co-authors provide recent snapshots from our work, illustrating how we are working to shift the narrative.
Preeti’s Reflections: Articulating Scope and Competencies
As a mid-level manager at the American Museum of Natural History, Preeti is looking for ways to both coach and mentor the managers in her team to deepen their competencies and prepare them for their next step. She is also looking to develop better job descriptions in the future by understanding how those with the highest capacity engage with their work.
Preeti (far right), with fellow AMNH staff at ASTC Annual Conference in 2025.
–Photo courtesy of the Lawrence Hall of Science.
I have a group of managers and directors who are productive, amazing leaders and are eager to strengthen their skills as people managers. They have all been in their roles for several years at the American Museum of Natural History, earning promotions along the way. I decided to introduce the idea of succession planning to them with a quick caution to say, “This is not because you are losing your jobs. Rather, it is an opportunity to learn more about what competencies we bring when we do our jobs effectively and planning for how we support the next level of staff to develop the skills needed for such types of jobs.” I noticed concern on their faces, but they appeased me anyway and kept an open mind as I invited them to engage in some exercises.
The document I gave them had the following prompts:
- Jot down your scope of work. What should someone in your title be responsible for?
- List three or more competencies most critical to be effective at your core job.
Several people in the group struggled to write their scope of work. They were able to write what they did day-to-day but not think of the categories of work in which they engaged. When it came to listing competencies needed, it was equally hard for the team. In some cases, they listed skills that are essential–like time management–but were not specific to their scope of work or level of responsibility. One might say that all staff need the skill of time management. In another case, an individual listed competencies such as “being able to delegate” (which is an appropriate competency) but was surprised to hear that that competency is part of a set of competencies often referred to as operational competencies.
This taught me that work was needed to support this group of people to recognize and articulate to themselves the professional competencies they have and bring to their daily work before we could have the conversation about what competencies needed to be strengthened for the next step in their desired trajectory. Tools such as the Pathways Framework for ISL professionals became an important resource for us and provided us with needed vocabulary to have these conversations.
Rena’s Reflection: Moving from Apprehension to Future Readiness
Rena is the Director of The Lawrence Hall of Science, where she is pursuing ways to strengthen organizational capacity, continuity, and sustainability.
Rena (center) and young learners make friends with a bearded dragon, with help from a museum educator.
— Photo courtesy of the Lawrence Hall of Science.
A key challenge I’ve faced in our work on succession planning has been apprehension among staff—a mix of natural concern and resistance. This apprehension seems rooted in the belief that succession planning is about pushing people out, rather than a way to intentionally engage them in growth, communicate transparently about advancement pathways, and responsibly plan for the organization to thrive in the future. This tension is compounded by the inherent vulnerability of the process– succession planning asks people to be open about a time when they will not be in their current job. It brings up people’s anxiety about the unknowns: Why wouldn’t I be in my job? Is the organization preparing to downsize or reorganize me out? Am I being considered for a promotion? For those nearing retirement, it also exposes feelings about one’s pending transition and legacy.
This anxiety is exacerbated by the economic and political realities of our field, which have created years of funding uncertainty, organizational volatility, and distrust. When job security feels fragile, the idea of “preparing a successor” can feel like a threat to one’s own relevance. Instead of seeing succession planning as an opportunity to intentionally mentor others and transfer invaluable institutional knowledge, it is viewed as a plan for one’s own obsolescence. Feelings of vulnerability quickly transform into avoidance or defensiveness.
During COVID-19 crisis, when the risk of staff being unavailable for health reasons was a reality, I asked executive leaders:
- What critical tasks would need attention in your absence?
- Who in the organization has the institutional knowledge and expertise to step in if needed?
This “emergency bridge” was a successful exercise in emergency planning. Yet, transitioning that momentum into a broader, permanent organizational culture has proven difficult. I am still seeking ways to truly shift the collective mindset and create a more proactive version of this exercise into a broader organizational habit.
I am now focused on strategically reframing this as an opportunity for discussing personal and organizational capacity building. We are pairing our forward-looking planning with a clear identification of the specific capacities and expertise we need to achieve our mission and financial goals. By shifting the focus towards the skills required to advance our strategic priorities, I hope we can quiet the anxiety inherent in the process. The goal is to move from a place of individual insecurity to a collective focus on what our institution needs to thrive. It is a slow pivot that is essential for building a resilient, sustainable future
What's Next?
These examples represent how succession planning applies at all levels of staffing and leadership. As you can see from our stories, we are working our way through this journey. We recognize succession planning both as an equity imperative and as an important organizational practice that can defuse anxiety by contributing to processes that increase trust, transparency and agility.
Core Questions for Conversation
To move from high-level strategy to everyday practice, leaders need to bridge the gap between organizational goals and personal aspirations in ways that demystify the purposes and practices of succession planning. There are many toolkits available and your Human Resources department may have. One that we found helpful was the UC Berkeley Succession Planning Toolkit, which offers a 3-stage framework that helps organizations create a sustainable 1-3-year plan. It includes prompts for critical conversations that may be used in 1-on-1 or team meetings, either during performance review or during informal moments of coaching and mentorship. The key is to do it often and in an ongoing way to help neutralize anxiety and build trust by developing and regularly engaging in transparent conversations:
- Looking Forward: “What does the organization need to be successful tomorrow?” This shifts the focus from individual survival to collective mission.
- Identifying Individual Aspirations: “What do you actually want for your career?” Don’t assume everyone wants to be a director. Some may want to deepen their technical expertise or branch into a new department.
- Analyzing Alignment: “Do the organization’s future needs align with your current strengths?” This is where the manager provides honest, constructive feedback on skill gaps.
- Understanding Timing: “How soon is this talent needed, and are you excited about the growth required to get there?” This addresses timing—succession planning is a marathon, not a sprint.
- Planning for Action: “What specific actions—mentorship, shadow days, or professional development—can we take now to increase your future readiness?”
By using these questions, leaders and supervisors intentionally prepare the organization, themselves, and their team for professional growth, organizational transitions, and long-term sustainability.
Cultivating a Culture of Growth & Continuity
Succession planning is, at its core, an act of institutional care. It honors the idea that our museums are larger than any one individual, yet their success depends entirely on the growth of every individual. As we have explored, the path to a resilient workforce is not linear. It requires navigating very real human vulnerabilities and systemic anxieties. However, by reframing the process as a manageable organizational challenge focused on capacities, we can minimize the apprehension that often stalls these efforts.
The goal for our field should be smooth transitions so well-prepared that our organizations never miss a beat. By pursuing a transparent process and centering equity, we build a culture where every staff member sees a future for themselves, and where the “pick up the mantle” is not a burden, but an invitation. By moving away from informal “successor spotting” and toward a proactive, transparent framework, we can build adaptive capacities and ensure our entire workforce has access to the learning, tools, and support they need for future success. We invite you to take the next steps. Try setting up structures to engage in these activities so that these activities don’t fall by the wayside until they are urgent. Share your journey with us; having a community to problem-solve with is essential to moving this vital work forward.
