The 10 Succession Mistakes Nobody Warned You About

Hey, it’s succession season for a lot of companies. A lot of companies are looking to recruit new ERG leaders, but there’s a major struggle.

Who’s going to step up?

I hear a lot of excuses in this work. People say things like, “Everyone’s just too busy,” or “They have too much on their plate.” And maybe that helps them feel better when they drop a link to an application form and get zero responses.

But let’s be real, if we changed the way we approach succession, the outcome would be completely different.

Here are the 10 major mistakes that I see. No particular order:

1. You’re Spamming, Not Strategizing

Blasting all of the ERG channels with the same disruptive @here message is not the thing that’s going to get people to say, “Let me apply now.”

Yes, for the people who are already “primed and ready,” they might use this as a signal to act. But for most people? This is just spam in the channel. It’s an advertisement. A loud, noisy, and non-contextual one at that.

2. Your Process Is Overcomplicated

Every ERG should have a shared form for succession.

Not just to make your life easier, but to make it easier on your members too.

Think about it: if someone is a member of multiple ERGs and each one drops a separate application form at different points in the year, it creates confusion. Now they feel pressure to choose… or worse, anxiety if they get selected for more than one.

This fragmentation usually happens because each ERG lead runs their own succession. But really, succession should be led by the Program Manager, not by each ERG independently. When every group runs its own process? That’s a guaranteed recipe for burnout, bottlenecks, and inconsistent leadership transitions.

Also,if your application form has more than 5 questions or is heavy on open-ended responses? Simplify it. You’re not running a college admissions process. You’re trying to make this feel ✨accessible✨.

The more you confuse, the more you lose. Keeping it simple is a strategy.

3. You’re Not Using Media That Moves People

Dropping a plain link in the channel isn’t going to move people to apply. If you’re promoting an open ERG leadership role (or anything, really), media is your biggest asset.

The most effective visual I’ve seen? A group photo of your ERG leads at an in-person summit. It gives real, human context and it works.

But honestly? Video wins. That’s the format people engage with today—and for good reason.

Try one of these:

• A quick video from your executive sponsor encouraging folks to apply

• A montage of current leads talking about what the ERG means to them

• A daily short from one lead, sharing the ERG’s origin stories and inviting others to sign up

Whatever you choose, don’t skip the media. Video, photo, GIF, audio…just give people something real to connect with.

4. You Don’t Have a Pipeline, Just a Post

You can’t build an ERG leadership pipeline without building engagement first.

There’s a process people go through before they’re ready to lead. I often reference Pat Flynn’s Pyramid of Fandom to explain this. At the bottom, you have passive participants. In the middle, a connected community. At the top are your superfans.

People don’t usually jump from passive audience straight to superfan. They move through that middle phase. In ERGs, that middle phase is engagement and community connection.

If you haven’t built that? If people aren’t already involved? You’re asking them to skip a step and it’s not going to work. That’s why your leadership pipeline feels broken. If your engagement has been low all year, recruiting new leads is going to be hard. It’s that simple.

Now, the good news: it’s still early September. If you put real effort into engagement for the next four to five weeks, you could open succession planning by mid-October and get a decent turnout.

It’s not impossible, but it will require a focused push.

Recruitment depends on relationships. If you haven’t built any, you’re going to struggle to recruit.

5. The Roles Sound Like a Job, Not an Opportunity

If you’re trying to recruit new leads, your goal should be to make the role feel simple, approachable, and valuable…not like a second job.

ERG leadership is a volunteer role. It should feel low-lift to step into. People should be able to picture themselves in the role, understand how they’ll grow from it, and see the personal benefit.

Right now, that’s likely not happening.

Here’s why:

• The language we use is often filled with DEI or ERG jargon that regular members don’t understand.

• We rarely use plain, common-sense language.

• And worst of all, we don’t always make the expectations clear. People don’t know what the actual lift is.

No wonder they’re not signing up. They don’t see themselves in it. They don’t know what’s expected. And it just feels… hard.

That’s fixable.

Clarity recruits. Confusion repels.

6. You’re Not Letting Your Current Leads Do the Selling

This one kind of goes with the “no media” piece. But unless you’re a brand-new program, you should definitely be using the testimonials of your past and present ERG leads to bring new folks in.

It’s one thing to hear someone who owns the program say, “Hey, this is a great program that’s going to benefit you.”

It’s another thing entirely to see someone like them, who actually did the work, say, “This benefited me.”

Testimonials are a powerful tool.

7. Your Timing Sucks

Sometimes succession is just inappropriately timed.

Personally, I would never do succession at the end of a quarter. If I’m going to do it in September, it’s going to be the first two weeks of September at the latest. But honestly, I’d probably wait until the first or second week of October and run it through the end of the month. That is one of the sweet spots. Same applies for April.

January and July are vacation seasons, so I’m not a fan of those as succession months.

My top picks are October and April. That “end-of-quarter stress” is usually over, and people are more open to doing something new and fresh.

Timing matters. A poorly timed ask can absolutely make or break your campaign.

8. You’re Springing It on People With Zero Warning

You need to let people know that it’s coming up. Don’t just spring it on them and expect them to jump because you said jump. You want to give them some build-up. Let them mentally prepare for what’s coming.

9. You’re Only Promoting In One Place

I talked about how you promote and when you promote. Now it’s time to talk about where you promote. Newsflash: You shouldn’t just do it in ERG channels. Ideally, you also have some sort of slide within your company- wide all-hands and also within department-level all-hands.

You can provide each team with a simple slide, maybe with a GIF. That’s probably the direction I would go if you don’t have a video. If you do have a video, keep it under 3 minutes max.

Bonus points for contextual videos/media in department all hands, like a teammate from said department vouching for the program.

10. You’re Not Explaining the Value For Them

I kind of touched on this already, but I want to say it more explicitly. Not speaking to the benefits of ERG leadership, and in simple language at that, is a huge miss. It might feel obvious, but it’s not clear to a lot of people why they should volunteer.

• What does the ERG program do for the company? (That’s your “Purpose” in the 3 Ps.)

• What does it do for members?

• What does it do for them as individuals? We forget to explain what they get out of it (not the buzzwords like “leadership” either)

The answer to those questions above shouldn’t be some long buzzword filled statement either. Also, ideally each role should have different skill sets that are being developed and boosted through the work.That way, it’s a give-and-take. You’re clearly telling them what the ask is and you’re clearly showing them what they’ll gain.

Yes, this should show up in your testimonials. But you also want to make sure your documentation states it clearly too.

Anyway, I know it’s been a minute since I’ve done a newsletter, but I hope this one was worth the pause.

’Til next time,

The ERG Homegirl

P.S. Meet up @ BMiT’s THRIVE in Miami? Let me know if you’ll be there or are interested in going