More companies should develop clear succession plans for the CEO job, as McCormick & Co. (MKC) did, says Robert Lawless. He just stepped aside after 11 years as chief executive officer of the Baltimore-based spice company, in favor of a successor who had been groomed for five years. Lawless, 60, became a nonexecutive chairman of the board as of Jan. 1 to make way for Alan Wilson, who is 49. Below are edited excerpts of a recent conversation with Lawless.
Did you borrow someone else's model for succession planning, or did you just make it up as you went along?
