Join us for our July Membership Meeting!
Presentation Title: A Heartbeat Away: Why Succession Plans Fail and What to Do About it
Topic: Why Succession Plans Fail and What to Do About it
Brief Synopsis of Program:
Most succession plans fail long before a leader ever leaves. Not because of poor intentions, but because the organization was never designed to operate without them.
In this session, Dr. Ron Bogart challenges the traditional approach to succession planning and introduces a more durable alternative: building a leadership system that functions independently of any one individual. Drawing from real-world experience and insights from A Heartbeat Away, participants will explore how hidden dependencies form, why speed-driven leadership creates risk, and how to redesign their operating system to develop leaders, distribute decision-making, and create true organizational continuity.
This is not a session about naming a successor. It’s about building a business that doesn’t require one to survive.
Dr. Ron Bogart is the Board Chair of Gold Mechanical, a 100% employee-owned mechanical contracting company headquartered in Springfield, Missouri. With more than 30 years of executive leadership experience, Ron has led organizations through growth, succession, and cultural transformation while helping build systems designed to outlast individual leaders.
He holds a Doctor of Strategic Leadership degree from Evangel University, where his doctoral research focused on authentic leadership, psychological safety, and organizational performance. Ron is also an speaker, and author of the book A Heartbeat Away, which explores succession, resilience, and organizational durability through both personal experience and business leadership lessons.
Ron is passionate about helping organizations create healthier cultures, stronger leadership pipelines, and systems that allow companies to grow beyond dependence on any one personality.
