We are preparing for an acquisition and the buyers want to see a clear succession plan for our leadership team. How do we visually map out future seats on our Accountability Chart without causing anxiety among our current managers?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Creating a future-state Accountability Chart is the best way to visually map out your succession plan. To do this without triggering anxiety, you must be transparent with your leadership team about the purpose of the exercise.

Explain to your team that building a six-month, twelve-month, or three-year future-state Accountability Chart is a standard business health practice required by potential buyers to ensure the company can scale after the exit.

Create a separate version of your chart that shows the ideal structure needed to reach your target valuation. On this future chart, some seats may have new roles, and some current seats might be split. You may also have vacant seats that represent future hires.

Present this future-state chart to your leadership team as an opportunity, not a threat. Show them how the expansion of the structure creates room for them to grow, delegate their low-value tasks, and step up into higher-impact seats.

By focusing on structure before people, you normalize the conversation about organizational evolution. It becomes about what the business needs to win, rather than a personal judgment on any single manager's current performance.