The Silver Tsunami Is Upon Us

There's a reoccurring theme popping up more and more in my conversations with leaders all over the globe: a big shift is upon us. Whether it’s in manufacturing, tech, healthcare, or finance, there’s a growing sense of urgency around one pressing issue—many of the leaders who have been steering the ship for years are preparing to step away. We’re talking about the “Silver Tsunami,” and it’s not just a catchy phrase. It represents the imminent retirement wave of Baby Boomers from leadership roles, and it’s set to reshape businesses everywhere.

According to a Pew research study, every day in the United States, 10,000 Baby Boomers are reaching retirement age. That’s a staggering number, especially when you consider how many of them are in senior leadership positions. The research shows that over a quarter of CEOs plan to retire within the next five years. By 2030, we could be looking at one-third of senior leaders stepping down. Think about what that means for your organization—suddenly, you’ve lost decades of wisdom, insight, and experience.

From what I’ve gathered, most leaders recognize this transition is coming, but what’s becoming clear is that many organizations aren’t fully prepared to handle it. I’ve had countless conversations that reveal just how vulnerable some companies feel when they think about losing not just their most seasoned leaders, but the institutional knowledge, mentorship, and decision-making power that these leaders take with them.

One Director put it to me this way:

"We just reviewed the top three layers of our organization, and we have 27 leaders at risk of retiring in the next three years, and zero plans for their replacements."

Another Senior Leader put it like this:

"We are paying several leaders 2-3x their wage to stay on as consultants until we can develop a replacement."

There’s an understandable worry: how do you replace someone who’s been shaping the business for decades? Either way you look at this, it's time for us to collectively start getting not only serious, but seriously creative, about developing our leaders, and planning for the changes coming.

What We Can Do About It

So, what’s the answer? In my discussions with HR leaders who have a great handle on this challenge, they approach it from a structured, curious, and human centred mindset.

Our process needs to be structured, so that everything we do can be repeatable, and measurable. Leading with curiosity ensures that we won't get stuck in the 'We've always done it this way" rabbit hole. And coming at this from a human centred mindset means while we go through this process we are going to be leading with empathy, and a desire to understand more than job descriptions and KPIs.

This approach ensures that organizations are not just identifying their next leaders and actively developing them, but ensuring they are learning as much as they can from those retiring from the business, and not losing that key institutional knowledge they have earned throughout the years.

Here’s what that roadmap can look like:

A Few Tips:

1. When creating individual success profiles, don't just rely on job descriptions. Sit down with your leader, get an understanding of the human aspects of the role. What are the most important qualities and behaviours a successor would need to have honed? Who are the critical folks they interact with and why?
2. DO NOT SKIP CAREER PLANNING CONVERSATIONS. The last thing you want to happen is for your team to create success profiles, align on top talent, and then you approach said talent, and they say, "...no thanks, I really don't want Susan's role..." Take the time to have meaningful dialogue with direct reports to get a sense for where their career aspirations are.
3. Embrace ideological conflict during the talent review sessions. The reality is you are succession planning for who is going to be around the table with you eventually. Team One is a real concept, and these reviews shouldn't simply be a 30 minute chat full of nodding and agreement, they should be debates about how the candidates show up, and whether or not they can be developed to be a fit on your team.
4. Take action. It's not enough to simply create development plans to get folks ready for future roles, you must also put those plans into action. Create a mentorship opportunity, find unique projects for the leaders to test their skills on, and setup cross functional coffee connects for the future team members to get to shape their development.
5. Bonus Tip: Here's our complete Succession Planning Roadmap for free, with templates. No strings, just value for you and your team to start taking action.

Why Now Is the Time to Act

A growing trend in conversations with leaders across the globe is the looming "Silver Tsunami"—the impending wave of Baby Boomer retirements that will reshape leadership across organizations. With 10,000 Baby Boomers entering retirement age daily in the U.S., and a significant number of senior leaders planning to step down in the next few years, businesses are facing a leadership gap. Yet many organizations are unprepared to navigate this transition.

The solution lies in adopting a structured, curious, and human-centered approach to leadership development and succession planning. By focusing on building individual success profiles, engaging in meaningful career conversations, fostering healthy debates during talent reviews, and actively developing future leaders through mentorship and unique opportunities, companies can ensure a seamless transition while retaining critical institutional knowledge. Now is the time to take action and invest in the leaders of tomorrow.

P.S. I always leave space every week to connect with like-minded folks interested in Leadership Development, DM me and let's find some time!