By Beth Armknecht Miller, a leadership advisor, coach and Vistage chair for Executive Velocity, Inc.

Why is it important to develop future leaders within your company? Continuity of company culture, labor shortages, and an unexpected death of a senior manager are just a few important reasons. In his book, Built to Last, Jim Collins describes the very successful succession planning process that GE’s CEO, Reginald Jones, took to find a new CEO.  The process involved 96 candidates over seven years before Jones narrowed the candidates down to a single successor: Jack Welsh.