You Just Won the Lottery, Now What: Why Your Team Should Be Able to Thrive Without You

Imagine this… You wake up to check your phone and see that every number on your lottery ticket matches. You’re now $100 million richer. By lunch, you’re on a beach in Maui, sipping something cold and considering whether to answer emails ever again.

Sounds like a dream, right?

But back at your organization, chaos unfolds. Projects stall, decisions bottleneck, and key knowledge vanishes with you. It quickly becomes clear: you weren’t just leading the team, you were the team.

If your sudden (and extremely hypothetical) departure would derail operations, it’s time to start succession and continuity planning.

Succession planning isn’t just for “big” organizations. Many small and mid-sized organizations, especially in government, education, and nonprofit sectors, think succession planning is something only Fortune 500 companies worry about. But whether your team has 100 staff or just 2, the departure of a key person can create outsized disruptions.

Succession planning isn’t a luxury. It’s a survival strategy. It’s not about replacing people, it’s about making your organization resilient, informed, and prepared.

Build It Into Performance Reviews

One of the most effective ways to normalize succession planning is to fold it directly into your regular performance review process. Ask leaders (and emerging leaders):

• If you were out for 4 weeks, what couldn’t get done?

• Who knows how to do what you do?

• What processes or relationships live only in your head?

• What are you doing to grow your potential successor?

These conversations aren’t just about grooming replacements, they’re about mapping responsibilities, identifying knowledge silos, and creating a roadmap for the organization to function smoothly, no matter what.

Make Knowledge Sharing a Leadership Skill

Sharing your knowledge doesn’t make you replaceable, it makes you irreplaceably valuable. True leadership isn’t about hoarding information or skills. It’s about building capacity in others. It’s about scaling yourself.

By openly mentoring, documenting your work, and encouraging cross-functional collaboration, you’re not giving away power, you’re demonstrating your ability to grow people and systems.

And when the organization sees it can thrive without you, that's the clearest sign you're ready to lead more, not less.

Four Practical Steps to Strengthen Continuity

1. Review Responsibilities and Document Processes

   Create or update role descriptions and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Use tools like knowledge management, wikis or shared drives to house key processes, contacts, and systems knowledge. Make it easy for someone else to pick up where you leave off.

2. Embrace Cross-Training

   Don’t wait for emergencies to discover what’s undocumented. Build cross-training into your team’s regular rhythm. Let staff shadow each other, rotate roles briefly, or pair up for tasks. Redundancy isn’t wasteful, it’s resilience.

3. Identify Future Leaders Early

   You don’t need a formal pipeline to start investing in emerging talent. Look for curiosity, initiative, and collaborative mindset. Then offer stretch assignments and mentoring. You’re not just filling seats, you’re building a bench.

4. Normalize “Winning the Lottery” Thinking

   Okay, it doesn’t have to be winning the lottery, but regularly ask: What would happen if I or my colleague disappeared tomorrow? If the answer is panic, or I don’t know, that’s your signal to improve your continuity planning.

Continuity Is a Culture, Not a Crisis Response

Succession planning isn’t about planning for your exit, it’s about planning for the organization’s success, no matter what. When continuity becomes part of your culture, not just something triggered by turnover, you build a team that’s more agile, more collaborative, and more confident.

So, whether you’re heading for Maui, retirement, a promotion, or just a long overdue vacation, do your team (and your future self) a favor: start planning now.

Need help evaluating your succession plans, staff responsibilities, or continuity strategies? Sage 497 Consulting LLC offers strategic advisory services, including leadership coaching, staffing assessments, continuity planning, and cross-training design, to help organizations of all sizes prepare for whatever tomorrow brings.

Let’s start a conversation.