When William Bonner said goodbye to Jornal Nacional after 29 years, millions of Brazilians saw emotion, nostalgia and gratitude. But behind the scenes, what happened was one of the greatest public displays of corporate governance and succession planning the country has ever seen.
While the public saw an “end of cycle”, Globo executed a transition plan that had been designed since 2020, and which involved market research, preparation and transparent communication. A five-year succession, conducted with method, data and culture.
Succession is not an emergency plan. It is a long-term project
In most Brazilian companies, the word “succession” only appears in crises: an executive who resigns, a founder who is removed, leadership who becomes ill. Apparently, Globo did the opposite. He treated the succession of his main journalistic asset as a strategic project of organizational continuity.
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According to Bonner himself, the plan to slow down began to be designed in 2020. Since 2021, the broadcaster has carried out market research to test the acceptance of different names, including César Tralli, who has now taken over the bench. And the transition was twofold: Bonner was not only presenter, but also editor-in-chief, a role now taken over by Cristiana Sousa Cruz, his deputy for six years. Globo not only replaced people, but structured continuity of function and culture.
The Bonner case reminds us of a common dilemma in organizations of all sizes: dependence on corporate heroes. That director who centralizes everything. The founder who “has everything in his head”. The manager who is the only one who knows how to “jump the cat”. Businesses that depend on a single person are always one step away from collapse. Succession, therefore, is not about replacement, but about preserving value. About protecting the reputation, processes and knowledge that support the business.
Companies that prepare reduce risks and guarantee stability. Companies that ignore the issue become hostages to improvisation, wear and tear and ruptures.
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Legacy is not about being indispensable. It is to be replicable
The true legacy of leadership is leaving systems, processes and people capable of following the path, with or without it. Bonner said he worked on a succession process that leaves a culture of editorial rigor, public trust and credibility. Behind these values, we also see trained successors, mature teams and governance that prioritizes continuity over personalism.
In companies, the same principle applies. A well-managed succession:
- preserves institutional culture and values;
- reduces reputational and operational risks;
- ensures the perpetuity of the strategy;
- reinforces the confidence of stakeholders and investors.
So that a succession does not become an organizational trauma, it needs to start before any announcement. The first step is to map key positions and design succession plans even when there is no change expected. Even though the only person initially mapped is the CEO, this exercise forces the company to look inward, identify vulnerabilities and prepare talent. Having clarity about the ideal average transition time, the level of public exposure of the role and the profiles of potential successors helps to reduce risks and avoid decisions made under pressure. Mature companies also train successors on an ongoing basis, rotate executives in different areas and test the preparation of leaders in strategic projects. All this so that the transition, when it happens, is a natural process, not an improvisation.
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Another essential point is the succession communication plan, both internal and external. It must be defined long before the transition and consider sensitive scenarios. Imagine the case of a beloved founder, but involved in irregular practices: in this context, placing him as spokesperson for the replacement would be a strategic and reputational error. Therefore, the plan needs to define who communicates, when and how, ensuring coherence between the message and the company’s values.
The Board of Directors has a central role here: it is up to it to monitor the maturity of the process, ensure transparency and avoid personalism. In well-planned successions, communication is gradual, leaders are prepared in advance and the narrative is built around the continuity of the culture and the perpetuity of the business, not the departure of a person.
Practical lessons for companies: how to transform succession into a system
Succession does not end when the new leader takes over. It is only complete when the organization proves that it remains healthy, coherent and productive. Therefore, the post-transition period must be treated as a monitoring and consolidation phase, in which governance monitors whether the implemented plan actually delivered the expected results.
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The first step is to define what success means before the change and measure it afterwards: operational stability, continuity of the strategy, preservation of values and team engagement. The board must monitor these indicators with a technical, but also cultural, eye. It must assess whether decisions continue to reflect the company’s purpose and identity.
In the months after succession, it is essential to observe whether the retention of critical talent was preserved, whether the level of internal engagement and the perception of cultural coherence remained high and whether there are impacts on business performance, such as maintaining strategic customers, increasing sales or attracting new opportunities. Just as Globo monitored the reaction of the public and advertisers to the new formation of Jornal Nacional, companies must monitor their own “corporate audience indexes”: whether the market remains confident, whether the teams remain connected and whether the brand maintains credibility and results.
Based on these signals, the Board and leadership can adjust routes, reinforce communications and, when necessary, support the new management in any points of misalignment. The most important thing is to understand that succession is not a one-off event, but a system of continuity, which needs to be tested, measured and improved with each cycle.
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Succession is strategy, not dismissal
Upon handing over command of Jornal Nacional, Bonner didn’t just say goodbye. He delivered a plan and showed, live, that succession is about perpetuity. It was a practical lesson in governance: planning, transparency, risk management and communication aligned with purpose and values.
Companies that still see succession as a “threat” need to review the concept. Succession is intelligent continuity. It’s what ensures that the show (or business) continues, with the same purpose, even when the voices on the bench change.
