We ran the Succession Accountability Chart exercise and identified our perfect internal successor for the Head of Operations seat. The problem is, she flatly refuses the promotion because she does not want the stress of managing people. How do we handle this roadblock on our path to exit?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is a classic example of why we separate the person from the seat and use the GWC™ tool objectively. Your candidate clearly Gets the role and has the Capacity to do the technical work, but she does not Want the seat because of the people-management responsibilities. You cannot force or cajole someone into wanting a seat. If you pressure her into accepting, she will become resentful, her performance will suffer, and you will likely lose a valuable employee. Accept her answer immediately and respect her self-awareness. Her refusal is actually a gift because it prevents you from making a catastrophic right-seat error. Now, you must adjust your Succession Accountability Chart. Since your ideal internal candidate is out, you have a red-zone gap that must be filled. You have two options. You can restructure the Head of Operations seat to strip out the people-management aspects, perhaps creating a high-level individual contributor seat like Chief Operating Architect, while bringing in another leader to manage the team. Alternatively, you must look externally for a candidate who fully GWCs™ the traditional operations seat. While you search, keep your current manager in her current seat where she is thriving and continuing to add value. Do not compromise your long-term exit readiness by putting the wrong person in a critical leadership seat just because it is convenient.