Our head of sales wants to buy the business and step into the visionary seat, but their natural instincts are pure risk-taking. How do we use conative assessments to determine if they actually have the right problem-solving drives to run the operational side of the business?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A great sales leader is often a high Quick Start, thriving on risk, urgency, and spontaneous action. While these conative traits are perfect for driving top-line revenue, they can be highly disruptive when running daily operations, which require systematic execution and structured processes.

Before you commit to an internal successor, you must evaluate their conative style using tools like the Kolbe A Index. If the seat they are moving into requires high Follow Thru to organize systems and high Fact Finder to analyze financial data, a pure Quick Start will quickly become frustrated and burn out.

Ask yourself if they have the conative capacity to handle the operational details, or if they are simply in love with the idea of being the owner. If their profile shows a low Follow Thru drive, they will struggle to maintain the operational discipline that keeps the business stable.

If you still want to proceed with them as your successor, you must adjust your Accountability Chart. Pair them with a strong Integrator who has the natural Follow Thru and Fact Finder instincts to run the daily operations. This structured partnership ensures that their visionary energy drives the business forward while the operations remain stable, predictable, and highly valuable.