Dear Leah,
I'm Chief Operating Officer caught in the middle of a succession nightmare.
Our CEO announced her retirement for next year, and immediately two internal candidates emerged - our Chief Financial Officer and our Chief Revenue Officer. Both are capable, but they've turned the leadership team into warring factions.
The CFO's camp thinks the CRO is "all flash, no substance," while the CRO's supporters say the CFO "lacks vision and charisma."
Board meetings have become tense affairs where every decision gets filtered through succession politics. Last week, the CRO publicly undermined the CFO's budget presentation, and the CFO responded by questioning the CRO's client retention figures.
Our actual business is suffering because nobody wants to make decisions that might hurt their favourite candidate. The CEO seems paralysed by the conflict she's created and keeps saying "may the best person win."
How do I keep the company running while our leadership tears itself apart?
- Stuck in a C-Suite War
Dear Stuck in a C-Suite War,
Your CEO has accidentally turned succession planning into a reality TV show where everyone's competing instead of collaborating. This is exactly how good companies destroy themselves during transitions.
DIAGNOSIS:
Instead of managing succession as a strategic process, your CEO has created a public competition that's turned your leadership team into rival tribes. Both candidates are now optimising for winning rather than leading, which means the company's actual needs become secondary.
THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM:
There's no proper succession process - just two people fighting for a prize while everyone else picks sides. Your CEO's "may the best person win" approach has created chaos instead of clarity, and now the succession is damaging the very company the winner will inherit.
THE PATH TO RESOLVING IT:
The CEO needs to immediately establish a proper succession process with the board - clear criteria, external assessment, defined timeline, and most importantly, a commitment from both candidates to collaborate regardless of outcome.
If they can't work together during succession, they can't lead together afterward.
YOUR ROLE GOING FORWARD:
Focus your team on business objectives that transcend succession politics
Document how the conflict is impacting company performance for the board
Refuse to take sides but insist on professional behaviour from both candidates
Consider whether either candidate is actually suitable if they can't handle competition with grace
Sometimes the best thing you can do is refuse to take sides in someone else's game of thrones.
