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另一方面，微软取代比尔·盖茨是一个精心策划的案件，微软花了八年多的时间才完成。长期战略将使微软有机会吸收新经理进入管理层，并为客户和投资者提供所需的保证。
In fact, not only these companies, all the successful companies use a helpful tool to maintain high-quality continuity in leadership. This wonderful tool is called—succession planning, that’s the key point why they can operate successfully all the time.
事实上，不仅是这些公司，所有成功的公司都使用一种有用的工具来保持领导层的高质量连续性。这个奇妙的工具叫做继任计划，这是他们能够一直成功运作的关键点。
Main body 正文主体
Background 背景
In previous years, labor in the United States was plentiful and taken for granted. Managers had lots of time to evaluate and prepare employees for advancement over long time spans and to overstaff as insurance against surprise losses in key positions. That was true in that time because most jobs did not require comprehensive prequalification. Seniority (sometimes called job tenure), as measured by time with an organization or in an industry, was sufficient to ensure advancement. Succession planning and management activities mainly concentrated on leaders at the peak of tall organizational hierarchies because organizations were controlled from the top down and were thus heavily dependent on the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of top management.
在前几年，美国劳动力充足，被视为理所当然。经理们有很多时间来评估和准备员工在长时间内的晋升，并将其夸大为关键职位意外损失的保险。这在当时是真的，因为大多数工作不需要全面的资格预审。资历（有时称为工作年限），以在一个组织或一个行业工作的时间来衡量，足以确保晋升。继任规划和管理活动主要集中在高层组织中的领导者，因为组织是由上而下控制的，因此严重依赖于高层管理人员的知识、技能和态度。
However, as time changed, few organizations have the luxury to overstaff in the face of drastic global competition from low-cost labor abroad and economic restructuring efforts. That is particularly true in high-technology companies where several months’ experience may be the equivalent of a year’s work in a more stable industry. At the same time, products, markets, and management activities have grown more complex. Many jobs now require extensive prequalification, both inside and outside organizations. It’s not just for positions, leadership competency have become important factors fewer employees compete for diminishing advancement opportunities. As employee authority has broadened the extend of decision makers, leadership influence can be exerted at all hierarchical levels rather than limited to those few granted authority by virtue of their lofty titles and managerial positions. (William J. Rothwell, 2010)
然而，随着时间的推移，面对来自国外低成本劳动力的激烈全球竞争和经济重组努力，很少有组织有奢侈的行为来夸大自己。在高科技公司尤其如此，在这些公司，几个月的经验可能相当于在一个更稳定的行业工作一年。与此同时，产品、市场和管理活动变得更加复杂。现在许多工作都需要广泛的资格预审，无论是在组织内部还是外部。不仅仅是为了职位，领导能力已经成为重要因素，更少的员工竞争不断减少的晋升机会。随着员工权力扩大了决策者的范围，领导影响力可以在所有层级发挥作用，而不仅仅局限于那些因其崇高的头衔和管理职位而被授予权力的少数人。
Unfortunately, United States is facing a demographic crisis.
不幸的是，美国正面临人口危机。
From these two charts of US population by age, we can see from 1965-2025, people who are 55 or older is the most fast growing group and they make up the main population of US, Whereas the population of other groups is maintaining nearly the same. Baby Boomers started leaving their positions in 2008. It’s supposed that Gen X will replace Baby Boomers’ positions. However, the population of Gen X is much smaller than Baby Boomers’; most of them are too young to be qualified to some managing positions, so Gen X cannot fill the void which results from Boomers’ leaving. The average retirement age in US was 62; it means the number of people who are not working is becoming larger. From 2010 the growth rate of labor force will fall dramatically from 12% to 2%. Projected labor force change by age shows huge hole in future workforce. What happens to work force if more and more employees are retiring with a low growth rate of work force? Definitely it results in a shrinking pool in workforce. It’s a bad news to companies because they will suffer a lot if they cannot find the right person to fill the positions in time, especially when some skillful and experienced senior managers leave or retire from companies.
从这两张按年龄划分的美国人口图表中，我们可以看到，从1965-2025年，55岁或以上的人是增长最快的群体，他们构成了美国的主要人口，而其他群体的人口几乎保持不变。2008年，婴儿潮一代开始离职。据推测，X世代将取代婴儿潮一辈的职位。然而，X世代的人口比婴儿潮一代的人口要少得多；他们中的大多数人都太年轻，无法胜
