Barriers and readiness
Name what is blocking the transition, then make the call the company needs.
Typing the challenge
Before prescribing anything, classify each of the leader's two or three hardest challenges.
| Type | The problem | The solution | Leader's role | Fix that works |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Technical | Clear | Known | Apply expertise, direct the work | Training, tools, process, hiring expertise |
| Adaptive | Unclear or contested | Requires people, often the leader, to change values, habits, or identity | Surface the real issue, hold people in productive discomfort, give the work back to those who must change | Experiments, feedback, stakeholder accountability over months |
| Both | A technical fix is needed but not sufficient | Technical work plus a behavior change | Separate the two; solve the technical part fast, lead the adaptive part deliberately | Both, sequenced |
GTM examples
| Challenge | Type | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Implement a new CRM | Technical | Known solution, expertise available |
| Sales team resists accountability for forecast accuracy | Adaptive | The solution is a change in norms and behavior |
| Move from founder-led sales to a sales team | Both | Hiring and process are technical; the founder letting go of deals is adaptive |
| New VP Sales inherits a team loyal to the previous leader | Adaptive | Trust and identity, not process |
| Reps cannot run discovery on a new product | Technical, usually | Skill gap with a known fix. Probe in case it hides a motivation issue |
Probes when a leader calls everything technical
Most leaders describe their challenges as technical. Probe for the adaptive part:
- "If the fix is that clear, why has it not happened yet?"
- "What would you personally have to stop doing for this to work?"
- "Who would lose something if this changed, and how are they behaving now?"
- "Have you tried the technical fix before? What happened?"
If the answer to the second question is "nothing", it is rarely true.
What is blocking the transition
Before prescribing anything, name the barrier. Each needs a different response.
| Barrier | Sounds like | What works | What fails |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skill | "I have never done this" | Teaching, practice, the feedback-and-repeat test | Waiting for it to develop on its own |
| Mindset | "That is not how leaders here operate" | Adaptive work: experiments, stakeholder feedback, time | Training |
| Motivation | Capable, but the next stage holds no pull | The leader's own decision; show what the stage requires and let them choose | Promotion in hope that the role will create the ambition |
| Environment | Unchallenged, unrewarded, or blocked by the system | Change the challenge, the incentives, or the manager | Diagnosing the person as unmotivated |
| Opportunity | Outperforming the role with no credible path | A real next challenge, or an honest timeline | More development with nowhere to use it |
Can they, and will they
Capability and aspiration are separate questions. Score both.
| Will | Will not yet | |
|---|---|---|
| Can | Invest and accelerate | Make the next stage concrete; let them decide; do not promote on hope |
| Cannot yet | Teach the skill; the sprint will stick | Rarely worth a sprint now; revisit the goal anchor |
Motivation is often dormant, not absent. Before concluding someone lacks drive, find which motivators matter to them: mastery, autonomy, competition, purpose, recognition, money, advancement, responsibility, challenge. The manager's job is not to manufacture motivation. It is to understand the conditions under which the person chooses to bring their best.
Readiness verdict and the one-page brief
A diagnostic that ends in a plan is useful to the leader. A diagnostic that ends in a decision is useful to the company. CEOs, boards, and investors commission these to decide: promote, develop, move, or replace.
The readiness verdict
| Verdict | Means | Evidence standard |
|---|---|---|
| Ready now | Operating at the target stage today | Time allocation within 10 points of the stage standard; no critical gap; strong practice test |
| Ready in 12 months, with a plan | Can make the transition with a named plan | Headline gap is closable in 2 to 4 sprints; practice test shows learning; system check clear |
| Not ready for this stage | The gap will not close in the time the business has | Gap is large and adaptive; practice test unchanged; or prior sprints did not move it |
The closable-gap test. A gap is closable when four things are true: the leader wants the next stage, the leader agrees the gap matters, at least one earlier attempt to change shows movement, and the business can wait the time it takes.
Capable but not choosing it. When capability is clearly present and aspiration is not, say so in the verdict: "Capable of the next stage; has not chosen to develop what it requires." It is different from "not ready," and it protects the leader from a promotion they do not want.
Outgrowing the role. When a leader consistently outperforms the current role, the brief must name the next challenge and when it becomes available. Without a credible path, expect to lose them.
"Not ready for this stage" is not "not valuable." Many excellent leaders are at their best one stage below the role they hold. Say that plainly.
The one-page leader brief
The brief is what a CEO or board reads. Lead with the verdict.
- Verdict. One of the three, in the first line.
- Headline gap. One sentence, with the business consequence.
- Capability and aspiration. Can they, and will they, scored separately.
- Evidence. Three to five bullets across time allocation, 360, observation, and practice test. Include where sources disagree.
- System factors. Anything in the environment that must change for the leader to succeed.
- Strengths to build on. Two or three, with examples.
- Plan. The current sprint, the experiments, and the sponsor.
- Success criteria. Activity, leading, and outcome measures with the month-6 bar, set in advance.
- Next look. The date of the next review.
Keep it to one page. Supporting data goes in an appendix.