We have a highly capable director who is the natural successor to our retiring VP of Operations, but they have explicitly stated they do not want the stress of sitting on the leadership team. How do we build a succession plan when our best internal candidate refuses the promotion?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a great employee refuses a promotion to the leadership team, you must respect their self-awareness. Too often, owners force high-performing managers into leadership seats they do not want, resulting in a miserable employee and a dysfunctional leadership team.

To handle this, you must separate their technical capability from their GWC™ for the leadership seat. They have clearly stated they do not Want the seat. Since they fail the Want component of GWC™, you cannot put them in that role.

Your succession plan must pivot. You have two options. First, you can keep them in their current role as a highly valued individual contributor or manager, and look outside the organization for a true VP of Operations who wants the strategic and operational weight of the seat.

Second, you can look at your Accountability Chart and see if you can restructure the department. Perhaps you can hire an external leader who owns the strategic, high-stress seat on the leadership team, while your capable director continues to run the daily technical operations underneath them. This keeps your top talent happy and productive while ensuring your leadership team has members who are fully committed to the responsibilities of their seats. Never compromise on GWC™ to fill a seat quickly.