Build a Stronger Leadership Bench With Objective Leadership Data
Succession planning is one of the most consequential talent decisions an organization makes. It protects continuity in critical roles, reduces leadership risk, and signals what the organization values in its future leaders.
The challenge is that succession plans are often built under pressure, with uneven or incomplete information. When role requirements are vague — or when nominations rely too heavily on visibility, reputation, or familiarity — plans can lose credibility and development efforts can drift.
What strong succession plans do well
- Define what future-ready performance looks like in critical roles
- Identify who is ready now, who can be ready next, and what it will take to close the gaps
- Create confidence in the process — for leaders, candidates, and the organization
Why leadership assessments help
Leadership assessments strengthen succession planning because they add structure, objectivity, and defensibility. Instead of relying on informal reputation, proximity, or subjective impressions, organizations can evaluate talent against role-relevant competencies using a consistent framework. That clarity improves decision-making and makes development planning far more targeted.
How the LSP-R supports succession planning
SIGMA’s Leadership Skills Profile – Revised® (LSP-R®) supports this approach by measuring leadership potential across 50 competencies and translating results into practical development insights that can be used throughout the succession process. The LSP-R provides a consistent way to evaluate individuals against role-relevant competencies, supporting decisions that are more objective, defensible, and easier to communicate. It can be integrated into key stages of the succession planning process — from clarifying role requirements to identifying candidates, guiding development, and tracking progress over time.
Download the LSP-R® Guide to Succession Planning
Includes a step-by-step process and ready-to-use templates
Discover how to use the LSP-R to identify critical roles, evaluate leadership readiness, and guide the development of future successors. This practical guide outlines a step-by-step process for integrating assessments into each stage of succession planning — with tools to support nominations, talent reviews, and long-term tracking.
This guide includes:
- Critical Role Identification Questionnaire
- SIGMA Success Profile™ Builder
- Talent Review Survey and 9-Box Grid
- Candidate Profile and Gap Analysis Tools
- Development Planning Resources
- Progress Dashboards and Reassessment Trackers
About the LSP-R
The LSP-R is a scientifically validated assessment that evaluates leadership potential across 50 competencies. It provides a clear snapshot of strengths and development priorities, using a common competency language that supports consistent talent discussions.
How to Use the LSP-R in Succession Planning
The guide follows a practical, six-step workflow. Here’s the high-level view:
Step 1: Identify critical roles
Start with focus. Prioritize the roles that matter most to strategy, continuity and operational stability — then document decisions so the process is repeatable.
In the guide: role prioritization tools and tracking templates.
Step 2: Build success profiles
Define what success looks like in each critical role. Success profiles translate role requirements into clear competency expectations — providing a consistent reference point for nomination, assessment interpretation and development planning.
In the guide: templates and prompts to build success profiles using a shared competency language.
Step 3: Assess talent and nominate successors
Use the LSP-R to strengthen talent review discussions and support more consistent nominations. The goal is not to replace manager insight, but to ground decisions in role-relevant data.
The LSP-R supports in identifying:
- Ready-now candidates
- Ready-next candidates who need targeted development
- Deeper bench strength that may be overlooked without a structured process
In the guide: nomination and calibration templates.
Step 4: Analyze results and identify gaps
Compare candidate results to the Success Profile to identify the strengths that align with the role and the gaps that may affect readiness. Group-level patterns can also highlight shared development needs across the bench.
In the guide: tools for gap analysis and group-level tracking.
Step 5: Develop succession candidates
Turn assessment insight into action. Use results to focus development plans on the competencies that matter most for the target role, supported by coaching, stretch experiences, and targeted learning.
In the guide: development planning templates and coaching guidance.
Step 6: Measure progress and review the plan
Succession planning is not a one-time exercise. Track development progress, revisit readiness, and update plans as roles and strategy evolve.
In the guide: tools to track readiness, progress, and succession plan reviews.
For the full process and ready-to-use templates, download A Practical Guide to Using the LSP-R® for Succession Planning:
WHAT’S NEXT?
SIGMA Can Help
SIGMA supports organizations with the tools, assessments and implementation guidance required to build a structured succession planning process — from role definition and candidate evaluation to development planning and progress measurement. Contact us by completing the form below and a member of our team will be in touch shortly.