One of the most important responsibilities of leadership is preparing for the moment when someone else will lead.

As PMI Central Alabama prepares to welcome our 2027 leadership team, I’ve been thinking about succession not simply as a governance requirement, but as an act of stewardship.

Healthy organizations don’t begin thinking about leadership when a position becomes vacant. They create opportunities for people to develop, contribute, observe leadership in action, and begin imagining themselves in roles they may not have considered before.

That is why we chose to begin our election process earlier this year and why we have continued investing in mentorship, volunteer development, documentation, and intentional leadership transitions.

The goal isn’t simply to fill positions.

It is to build a pipeline.

When knowledge lives with one person, an organization becomes vulnerable. When leadership development happens only after a vacancy occurs, continuity becomes difficult. But when organizations intentionally share knowledge, develop people, and create pathways into leadership, transitions can become opportunities for renewal rather than disruption.

I’ve had the privilege this year of watching volunteers step forward, take ownership, develop new capabilities, and contribute their ideas to this chapter. Some will become future board members. Others will lead in different ways. Both matter.

Because leadership pipelines aren’t built only by identifying the next president or vice president.

They’re built by creating a community in which more people believe they have something meaningful to contribute.

That’s succession in action—and one of the most important investments we can make in the future of PMI Central Alabama.

— Rosalind Parks, PMP President, PMI Central Alabama