Workplace advice:
: Our board of directors was thrown into a tailspin when our executive director announced she planned to leave Alaska by the end of summer because she couldn’t face another winter like last year’s. Her announcement couldn’t have come at a worse time. In January, we held a strategic planning session and outlined a series of ambitious goals. We wouldn’t have created these goals if we had known our top person planned to leave.
She’s been our ED for eight years and has been the steady hand at the helm that helped us navigate through the pandemic and the staffing difficulties after that. She told us, “Don’t worry. I’ve built a strong bench. You’ve got three excellent internal candidates, any of whom can do my job.” We posted the position; five internal candidates applied. Although two weren’t qualified, we interviewed all five out of courtesy. Our selection committee soon narrowed in on our favorite, only to learn if we chose her, we risk losing two of the others. This is particularly true with one of the candidates who feels she’s the “heir apparent” executive director, as she’s been with us for six years and is the “step up” deputy director when the ED takes a vacation.
You mentioned two of your five candidates weren’t qualified, yet you interviewed them out of respect. If you knew from the onset they had no chance, you got their hopes up only to dash them. This type of false promise can create harm. It might have been more respectful to sit down with each of these two and let them know you’re excited they want to advance their careers, and outline areas in which their current experience doesn’t make them one of the “most qualified.” Then commit to them.
If this sounds like a lot of work to you, consider the alternative in which you lose two strong team members and falter in your quest to achieve those ambitious goals you set.Lynne Curry writes a weekly column on workplace issues. She is author of “Navigating Conflict,” “Managing for Accountability,” “Beating the Workplace Bully" and “Solutions,” and workplacecoachblog.com. Submit questions at workplacecoachblog.com/ask-a-coach/ or follow her on workplacecoachblog.com, lynnecurryauthor.
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