Why Being in the Succession Plan Won’t Guarantee Your Promotion—And How to Fix It
Tiffany Cheng
Mentoring quiet high performers in large organizations from middle management to senior executive roles | ex-Volvo, Atlas Copco
Have you ever been in a situation where your manager told you that you’re on their succession plan, and once they move on, you’re very likely to get the job?
Nothing is going to be written for now. However, your manager assures you that if you just continue to do a great job, everything will work out.
You leave that meeting feeling wonderful—believing your succession is now only a matter of time.
But here’s the reality: I am often amazed by the number of future VPs, SVPs, GMs, or CXOs who have had conversations like this but didn’t end up getting the position.
In most cases, this is a matter of miscommunication. Managers want to be positive and motivate their high-potential team members—who wouldn’t like to be the messenger delivering positive and encouraging messages?
The fact is, no succession is ever a sure thing, even if you have the support of your manager. The last leg of the journey to an executive role is full of unexpected challenges, and many so-called potential successors find themselves suddenly knocked out of the running—or even out of the company altogether.
In this video, I shared what went wrong and how you can fix it.
Understanding Your Stakeholders
The first thing you need to understand is that succession is not a rational process. These decisions are made by humans—including the CEO of your organization and the president of your business unit. Yep...They are human too.
In reality, succession decisions are just as likely to be influenced by stakeholders’ gut feelings as they are by your performance and experience.
Here are the key stakeholders you need to think about, and it’s not just your manager or your manager’s manager. There are six key stakeholders you need to consider: your manager, your future peers, your current peers, your direct reports, external business partners, and the board of directors or the manager of the position you want.
1. Your Manager
Your manager, without a doubt, is important. They represent you in all the discussions behind closed doors with higher-level stakeholders about your performance and your potential ranking during the talent review process. They are also the ones who decide who to include in their succession plan.
I once worked with an SVP of Technology, and one of the successors, the VP of advanced engineering, talked a little too openly about what the company would be like “when I’m in charge.” What happened next? He was completely eliminated from the running because the SVP of Technology thought he was being too arrogant and acting as if he already had the job before it was given to him.
As a successor, you have to strike a balance between projecting your readiness and maintaining your loyalty and support for the current person in the job. There’s a fine line between being an assertive leader and an arrogant candidate.
Another situation I often see is when a successor is doing everything right but still doesn’t get the job because it was never the intention to promote them in the first place. Let me share an example with you.
I had a client who was in a succession plan to become the Vice President of Research and Development, with the condition that he improved his communication skills. This client was told by the SVP they had no doubt about his technical skills, performance, and delivery on the job. So, he worked with a coach that the company assigned to help him with his communication skills, and he made tremendous progress that was reflected in the company’s 360 reviews. But when it was time for the promotion, he still didn’t get the role of Vice President. This time, he was given the feedback that he lacked digitalization expertise and competence.
So, what really went wrong here? The problem was that the SVP didn’t even like this candidate but still needed him in his current position. To keep him there, the SVP dangled the carrot of a promotion and invested in executive coaching for him. When the director actually improved his communication skills, the SVP had to come up with another reason to block his advancement.
Now, let me share one more example. This is a situation where a Regional America President, who is currently in the job and wants to promote the successor, but the Regional America President cannot let go and leave the position—especially since they themselves haven’t even been promised the next role. It can be really tricky with an expat contract because once the five years are up, you either move to the next position or lose the expat conditions, which would be a huge downgrade in lifestyle and compensation.
Now, their successor is very eager to know when they can take over, so they constantly talk about taking over the Regional America President’s position, even though the president hasn’t secured their next assignment yet. This makes it emotionally very difficult for the Regional America President. Not only do they need to face their own fears of walking away from the power, status, influence, international school for the kids, fully paid home allowance, and a very nice compensation package of these top positions, but they’re also really anxious about losing their identity because of the uncertainty surrounding their own growth and family.
What’s more, the successor’s performance can be seen as a reflection of the current Regional America President. Just imagine if the successor fails, then the President has to deal with the bad judgment of recommending a poor replacement. But on the other hand, if the successor improves the region’s performance, then the leader might get embarrassed by comments like, “The region has really done much better since you left.” So, the Regional America President can come off as a loser either way.
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2. The Manager of the Position You Want
At the end of the day, it’s not your manager who makes the decision—it’s the manager of the position you want. If you’re aiming for your manager’s job, then it’s your manager’s manager who will make that decision. If you’re targeting a C-suite position, it will be the CEO or the board of directors.
Some potential successors fail to understand this and don’t know how to manage their relationships with these skip-level leaders, which is a big mistake.
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3. Your Future Peers
The next stakeholders are the peers in the position you want. It will be incredibly difficult to get the top job without your peers’ support.
The executives who appoint successors will be watching closely for any indication that your colleagues are not behind you.
Before I was appointed Vice President in Asia, the President of the region clearly told me, “If you cannot build a positive relationship with your future peers, particularly the President of Region China and the Joint Venture Chairman, you can’t become the next Vice President. You will need their commitment to make this next position successful.”
Managing peer relationships when you are in a succession plan is incredibly delicate. If you are too assertive, people will think you are pushy or arrogant, but if you are not assertive enough, they’ll think you lack leadership and self-confidence. Both perceptions are not helpful.
By this point, you might be wondering, “So how do I get support from my future peers, especially if they don’t even like me?” This is where I really don’t want to give you generic advice like “just listen more” or “have more conversations” or “do something nice for them.” Sure, those things are important, but they’re too generic to take real action. Your situation is unique—your stakeholders, the context of your organization, and the team you want to join all have their own dynamics. How they feel about you now is likely very different from what I experienced. That’s why I wouldn’t encourage you to rely on generic advice. Instead, you need a tailored approach that works for your specific situation.
If you’re ready to take your career to the next level, moving from middle management to a senior executive role, I invite you to apply for a free strategy call. We’ll evaluate if you’re a good fit for our mentorship program, The 1% Academy.
4. Your Current Peers
Don’t forget your current peers. If you succeed in becoming your manager’s successor, then your peers will become your direct reports, and their support is crucial. If the executive team (the CEO, president, or the board) sees that you don’t have the backing of your current peers, it will be a big challenge for you to manage them, their expectations, and the team. It’s very unlikely the organization will promote you under these circumstances.
Let’s not forget that many of your peers may also believe they have a shot at your manager’s job. In some cases, they may do whatever they can to sabotage your chances for that succession. I’ve seen it happen all the time—like when they take your manager on customer visits without you, or when they travel to the global HQ and take the chance to speak on global leadership matters, even taking credit for your work as if this is their team.
If you think this is happening, don’t sink to their level. Don’t make negative or competitive comments about your peers, even if they’re saying things about you behind your back. As Michelle Obama said, “When they go low, you go high.” Take the high road. Your reputation and integrity will win people’s respect in the end.
5. Your Direct Reports
The next key stakeholders are your direct reports. The feedback they provide about your leadership is an excellent predictor of your ability to lead the company. If just one direct report gives poor feedback, it can sabotage your chances of getting the top job.
A VP of Marketing, who was my colleague, was a successor for the President role. However, her direct reports gave feedback that she wasn’t capable of listening and didn’t take the time to understand her team. Instead, she showed clear preferences based on who she liked and spent the most time with after work. She also judged her team’s performance based on how she was promoted, rather than considering their diverse skills.
In most cases, the President and the board are quite distant from the VP’s direct reports because they’re often spread across different countries. But in this particular case, the President was in the same building and country as the VP, and he had held the VP role before, so he knew the team well. He had personally hired and promoted many of them. The direct reports didn’t hold back in expressing their dissatisfaction with the VP’s leadership. As a result, the VP of Marketing didn’t get the President’s job; he had to make a lateral move to another BU and start all over again as VP of Marketing in the new business unit.
Whether the direct reports were right or wrong in an absolute sense is actually irrelevant. What mattered was that the President respected these people and their opinions. The VP of Marketing failed to convince them that they could be an effective leader.
Yes, leadership is not a popularity contest, and sometimes, as a successor for the C-suite, you’ll be asked to make tough decisions that the current executive avoids—like reducing budgets, shutting down projects, or restructuring and downsizing teams.
In my second Vice President position, during the first two weeks, I already knew that I would need to restructure the team and address some low performers who had been with the company for years and were well-liked by many colleagues. It was even more complicated because family members, including their parents and husband, also worked at the company.
The first six months were incredibly challenging—because it was a new organization I was hired externally, with very little insight into its culture, people, and stakeholder dynamics. But at that point, I understood that everyone who had failed in this role before me had valued popularity over doing what was right for the company.
You need to do what’s right for the shareholders, the company, and its customers, even if it means ruffling some feathers or, worse, making some enemies. On the other hand, leadership is also not about being unpopular. If you want to be the CEO, President, GM, or SVP, you have to demonstrate that you can get the job done while still making people feel good, respected, and building trust with your reports.
Again, it’s a fine line—you need to balance being liked by your direct reports and not coming across as lacking self-confidence. But if you’re too directive, it can seem like you only focus on results and don’t care about how others feel, which can come across as lacking emotional intelligence and respect.
If some of your direct reports have personal relationships with your manager, the president, or the board, they will inevitably talk about you—especially the things they didn’t like about you.
Don’t become defensive or try to stop it, because honestly, you can’t. Trying to do so could actually make things worse for your relationships with both your direct reports and your manager.
Instead, focus on improving your own behavior, especially in areas where your direct reports are not satisfied. With the many talent management tools and leadership resources available today, like 360° feedback, you can easily identify what needs improvement and work on yourself.
6. External Business Partners
External stakeholders like key partners, customers, and suppliers can also have a significant influence on your potential promotion. Some customers have long-term business partnerships with your organization, and if they’re not on board with working with the next head of the company, they might reconsider continuing their business relationship.
If your company’s customers are more transactional—just buying your products or services with little interaction with the executive team—they won’t have much concern about the ongoing relationship and are unlikely to influence your run for a C-suite position. However, if your company has key customers who generate a substantial amount of revenue, their feedback will be critical in determining whether you get promoted.
For example, in industries like banking and financial services, clients in powerful positions often want to deal directly with the bank’s leadership. They might even have relationships with the board. So, it’s crucial not to ignore or neglect the relationships with your company’s key business partners.
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