With the news last week that U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden, a lot of the subsequent discussion has concerned whether Al Qaeda (undisputedly, a mission-driven organization) will continue to be an international terrorism force without its charismatic champion.

It occurred to me that the questions being asked to determine whether the terror organization has staying power in the wake of bin Laden's death are similar to those we ask when a mission-driven organization experiences a leadership change that may threaten the continued execution of its strategy management system.

Does the new leader believe in the present system?

Whether the organization's new leader is an internal or external hire, the first question is whether she is a believer in strategy management and the system that is in place within the organization.

While it may seem that a leader who came up through the ranks of the organization may be more likely to have bought into the system, this is not always the case, especially if the former leader came in from the outside. We often times see managers who are content to wait out a leader's term so that any of his programs disappear along with him.

On the other hand, while a new leader from the outside often has a whole new regime she wants to institute, she may have been chosen by the board specifically to continue or strengthen her predecessor's programs.

Are other leaders in the organization committed to continuing on the same path?

Regardless of where the new leader stands on the organization's strategy management system, the executive team who execute the strategy have the power to continue implementing the management system.

If they demonstrate their continued confidence in the system's effectiveness by continuing to hold strategy review meetings and holding individuals accountable, the system will not only survive, but thrive. The influence of such actions and their results will demonstrate the system's effectiveness to the new leader.

Is the system mature to the point that it has been instilled in the organization's culture?

Finally, a strategy management system will survive the departure of its leader/champion if that leader leaves behind a strategy focused organization. If the strategy management system has matured to the point that it is instilled in the organization's culture and has become the "way we do business," it will last beyond its champion's tenure.

As anyone who has tried to implement a strategy management system, or any new program, in any organization knows, change is hard. In this situation, the difficulty of changing an organization will help keep a mature strategy management system in place regardless of who the leader is.