We are using the Succession Accountability Chart from the Step by Step Exit framework and have identified a major gap where our Head of Technology has no ready-now or near-term successor. How do we flag this gap on our chart without making him feel like we are actively trying to replace him?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The Succession Accountability Chart exercise is designed to mitigate key-person risk, not to threaten your current leadership team. If your Head of Technology sees an empty successor box beneath his name, his immediate reaction might be defensiveness or fear that he is being pushed out. You must preempt this by framing the conversation correctly.

Start by explaining that preparing the company for an eventual exit requires demonstrating to buyers that the business can run smoothly without any single point of failure. A business with no succession plans is highly risky and worth far less.

Frame the search for a successor as a massive opportunity for his own career growth. Tell him that as long as he is the only person who can run your technology, he is permanently trapped in his current seat. He cannot take extended vacations, he cannot focus on high-level strategic Rocks, and he cannot transition into a lucrative advisory role post-exit.

By finding and training a successor, he is freeing himself up to elevate his own position.

On the Succession Accountability Chart, mark the successor seat as vacant or identified as an external hire gap. Ask your Head of Technology to take the lead in designing the development plan for this future successor.

When he is the one responsible for mentoring his replacement, he retains control over the process and sees it as a legacy-building initiative rather than a threat to his employment.