Leadership is more than merely getting a few people under one roof and giving them directions to work towards. Leaders play a powerful role in shaping the future of business and fortunes of people who belong there. While leadership theories abound with takes on what makes a good leader and what makes one exceptional at leadership, there is a sense of mystic splendor about leaders that really make them tick. And that perhaps is one of the reasons why people who come in to fill the leaders’ shoes aren’t able to replicate the management style or the results of their predecessors’ magic.

Leader’s Influence: The influence of a leader is felt deep within the ranks and files of the organization and go on to mould the culture of an organization. With time, a leader tends to get unified with the company so much that the leader becomes inseparable from the organization that he leads. A good leader is not someone who just talks and acts to get things done but radiates a charisma that is felt by the people who surround him.

GE and Jack Welch: Jack Welch of General Electric is often cited as the best leader of his times and is credited with being instrumental in creating and directing one of the largest structures in US Corporate history. While running a business is a tough ask, given the unique sets of problems that plague individual industries and businesses, running a sprawling conglomerate as the GE with businesses that are as diverse as medical equipment, jet engines, plastics, media and finance is no mortal task. That Jack Welch was able to create record growth of GE through out his stay at the helm speaks volumes of his leadership skills.

Leadership Succession: As with many business schools, where the capacity of the graduate is gauged by the efforts that the schools take in filtering students who make it to the schools in the first place, the mere fact that Jeff Immelt has been chosen his successor by Jack Welch shows the mettle that Jeff Immelt is. However, to run and expand the business the way Jack Welch did, especially after he had delivered double digit growth for years consecutively, is no mean task. And to be able to carry forward from where Jack Welch left the same way is next to impossible – a leader builds his empire around his strengths and that may not exactly be the strength of his successor.

How far Jeff Immelt goes without damaging the structure of the conglomerate is anybody’s guess – there is already talk of CNBC being spun off in the near term. The challenge in leadership succession is to be able to recreate the magic and make it sustainable in time. The problem, however, is that Leadership and organizations go hand in hand – and organizations could fall apart when leaders depart.