Pope Francis was Time Magazine’s person of the year in 2013. It started in a puff of smoke on March 13, 2013 when Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was elected Pope on the second day of the 2013 papal conclave. He took the papal name Francis.
Since that day, Pope Francis has often been referred to as “The People’s Pope” – committing himself to the poor.
But the unwritten story is that of the papal conclave that essentially acted like a board of directors in choosing a successor to retiring Pope Benedict.
I am writing to document that they got succession right. While choosing a Pope is a unique and divine process, please note that picking the right person for any succession is a tough job. In fact, it is the ultimate “crystal ball” assignment.
So, a board, or in this case - a papal conclave - must be able to look into the future and pick the right person for the time. Plus they are taking a chance – after all, the person being chosen has never held the position before.
Needless to say, every time there is a new head of an organization – there is a high risk that the person is being “Peter Principled” which is filling management roles with people competent in a current role who are incompetent at the intended role.
Plus in choosing a leader, boards and others responsible for hiring the next person in charge, must start from the future, not the present. Yet, more often than not, a board thinks that a successor must come from their industry.
