Title:
Strategic Leadership Development and Mentorship as a Succession Planning Strategy: A Qualitative Pragmatic Inquiry

Authors:
Cara L. Miller, Kim A. Critchlow, USA

Abstract:

Leadership transitions can disrupt organizational continuity when successors have not been intentionally prepared through structured development. This qualitative pragmatic study examined how business leaders integrate strategic leadership development, mentorship, and sponsorship into succession‑planning systems across public, private, and nonprofit environments. Ten industry leaders with direct responsibility for succession planning participated in the research. Data were collected through semistructured interviews, publicly available organizational documents, and industry publications. Data were analyzed through an iterative coding process and using Braun and Clarke’s six‑phase thematic analysis approach. Findings revealed a comprehensive developmental system in which leaders connected talent identification, transparent knowledge sharing, experiential learning, mentoring relationships, and access to consequential opportunities. Participants emphasized that mentorship and sponsorship were most effective when embedded within a strategically aligned leadership pipeline rather than functioning as informal, isolated relationships. Groves’s succession‑planning framework provided structural grounding for understanding how organizations integrate development with future leadership needs, while the Howard–Sheth model offered a behavioral lens explaining how employees interpret developmental opportunities through perceptions of fairness, transparency, and access. The findings offer a practical model for strengthening leadership readiness, enhancing organizational resilience, and expanding equitable access to advancement. Implications for practice, positive social change, and future research are discussed.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.51505/IJEBMR.2026.10908