Perhaps you have heard the expression that people are our best assets. At the same time, conservation organizations (among all organizations) are struggling to keep their talent inspired, and to retain institutional knowledge and specific expertise. Succession planning is the process of identifying the important roles at your organization and creating a plan for how you can support individuals to assume those roles. Land Trust staff often arrive at an organization with passion for the mission and the work they are doing. But for these employees to commit to working at your organization for many years, they must feel that they can continually build their individual skills and talents and be at a workplace that allows them to thrive.In this workshop we will provide participants with ideas on how to create organizational standards, define the core competencies of leadership, and put a leadership development process in place. We will discuss how to create a succession plan that ties into your strategic planning and action planning process. We will talk about the role of the individual who is likely to grow into a critical role at your organization and we’ll discuss the role of supervisors and the board in the process. We will share some examples of best practices for small and large organizations that will help to illustrate how you can take concrete steps to create a more sustainable future for your land trust, with leaders who are in it for the long term.