Critical role
A critical role is a position whose sudden vacancy would materially damage the organization's operations, revenue, or decision-making — the roles a succession plan exists to cover.
A critical role is one where an unplanned vacancy would cost the organization something it genuinely cares about: revenue, regulatory standing, a key relationship, or the ability to keep deciding. Criticality is about cost of vacancy, not seniority — a niche specialist can be more critical than a VP.
Identifying critical roles is the first stage of succession planning, because it sets the scope. Plans that cover every manager collapse under their own weight; plans that cover only the C-suite miss where much of the real damage happens.
The test questions are consistent: what stops moving while this seat is empty, how long would an external search realistically run, and does knowledge or a relationship live only in this person's head? Roles that fail two of the three belong on the list regardless of what the org chart says.
Write down why each role made the cut. The one-line justification does two jobs: it makes the list revisitable as the business changes, and it turns 'your role is not on the list' from an insult into a documented decision that can be argued with evidence.
See where your bench breaks before it matters.
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