Our head of customer success has transitioned from a hands-on builder to managing a team of twenty, but they are constantly falling back into doing the frontline work instead of leading. How do we diagnose if this is a conative mismatch or just a lack of training before we make a replacement?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a leader continually reverts to tactical, frontline execution, they are operating out of their comfort zone because they are struggling with the conative demands of leadership. This behavior is rarely a lack of technical knowledge; it is almost always a mismatch in how they instinctively solve problems. You must determine if they possess the natural conative makeup to manage others or if they are hardwired to be an individual producer.

To diagnose the root cause of this failure to scale, use the Kolbe A Index. This tool measures their natural instinctive strengths across four modes: Fact Finder, Follow Thru, Quick Start, and Implementor. A leader who is highly insistent in the Implementor or Fact Finder modes often feels a compulsive need to physically do the work and gather every detail themselves. If their conative profile shows they require hands on manipulation of tangible items or exhaustive research to feel successful, they will struggle in a pure management seat that demands delegating, coaching, and strategic planning.

Use this process to make your assessment:

- Review their Kolbe A Index results alongside their Accountability Chart roles to see if their natural problem solving instincts match the requirements of a manager of managers.
- Evaluate their GWC for the seat, specifically asking if they truly want the burden of managing twenty people or if they are simply doing it because they think it is the only path to career advancement.
- Provide structured coaching on delegating and elevating for thirty days, establishing a clear metric for the number of customer issues they personally resolve versus those resolved by their team.

If they continue to bypass their team after this intervention, they lack the conative fit for the leadership seat. You must transition them back to an individual contributor role where their technical genius can shine, and hire a true leader who can build the department.