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You promoted your best performer. Now it isn't working.

Before deciding what to do, work out what has actually gone wrong

Dear Reader,

They were one of your strongest performers.

So you promoted them.

Six months later, they are struggling.

Or perhaps worse, they are still delivering, but the way they are leading is creating problems for everyone around them.

I have seen this quite a few times.

And I think one of the mistakes we make is assuming that because someone was ready for promotion, they automatically know how to operate at the next level.

They don't.

First, diagnose what has actually gone wrong

I find it useful to distinguish between three quite different problems.

Is it capability?

They were excellent at their previous job, but they don't yet know how to lead at this level.

That may require much more feedback, coaching, practice and development.

Is it expectations?

Nobody has really explained what becoming more senior means.

So they have interpreted promotion through the most visible signals available to them: more authority, greater status, perhaps better benefits.

Or is it behaviour and accountability?

They understand what good leadership looks like, but are choosing behaviours that undermine others or damage the team.

That needs direct feedback and accountability.

Coaching alone won't solve it.

The response should be very different depending on which problem you actually have.

But perhaps some of this work should happen before the promotion

We spend a lot of time talking about someone's new responsibilities when we promote them.

I think we spend much less time talking about what they need to leave behind.

Becoming more senior should usually mean:

• Less proving your own value. More enabling others to succeed.
• Less status from being the expert. More influence through others.
• Less making all the decisions. More creating good decision making.
• Less protecting your own interests. More thinking organisationally.
• Less being the star performer. More building strong performers.

Some things, of course, don't reduce at all.

Delivering results. Accountability. Judgement. Clear standards. Personal contribution when it is needed.

But there is another shift that I think deserves much more attention.

Promotion gives you power

A promotion doesn't just give someone more responsibility.

It gives them more power.

And the more senior you become, the more impact your behaviour has on other people.

A throwaway comment can suddenly feel like an instruction.

Being visibly frustrated with someone can affect how others perceive them.

Inviting one person into a conversation and leaving another out can influence who gets opportunities.

Changing your mind without explaining why can leave a whole team second guessing themselves.

I learnt this myself as I became more senior. I don't think I fully appreciated initially how differently people would interpret something simply because it came from me.

You can say, “I was only asking a question.” .... But when you are the CEO, your question carries weight.

You can say, “I was just thinking out loud.” ... But someone may leave the room believing they have just been given a new priority.

Power comes with responsibility for your impact, not just your intent.

That doesn't mean senior leaders need to become cautious about everything they say or stop challenging people.

It means understanding that leadership changes how other people experience you.

So I think every promotion into a significant leadership role should include a much more explicit conversation:

What should becoming more senior mean here?

What do you need to do less of?

What do you need to do more of?

What remains absolutely essential?

What power do you now have that you didn't have before?

And how might people experience you differently because of it?

Then, if things do start to go wrong, diagnose before you prescribe.

Someone who needs help learning how to lead needs something very different from someone who knows what good leadership looks like but isn't choosing to practise it.

Warmly,

Liz ​

Strategic Advisor | Former CEO | Founder, Volante

Based in Kenya, available globally