When Your Boss Leaves Before You Do

Over time, you've worked hard to develop a positive, constructive relationship with your boss. You've accumulated credit, and you've been hoping it would pay off. And your boss has always been fair — favor and trust have been mutual. But now, suddenly, your boss is departing, and you don't know what the future holds. You felt you were in line for promotion and stellar reviews, but that's all in question now. What to do?

I've described this situation in terms of a line manager's position, but it holds for people at any level of the organization. Everyone must answer to someone or to several someones. Everyone must confront the problem of unanticipated departure of the people they must answer to, when those people suddenly move on or are replaced. The feeling is analogous to what happens when someone comes up to you from behind and dumps you from your chair.

In what follows I'll use the name Betty (she/her) to refer to the Boss who's moving on, voluntarily or not. And I'll use the name Sean (he/him) to refer to Betty's Successor.

Three categories of interest

We can Everyone wants to believe that in the
end they'll be OK and that your boss's
successor will be someone they can trustdivide these cases into three categories, according to the context of Betty's departure. The first class, Class I, consists of cases in which the set of Betty's candidate successors includes one or more individuals whom Betty supervised up to the time of her departure. The second class, Class II, includes those cases in which Betty's departure precipitates (or is the result of) a more general reorganization. The third class, Class III, includes cases in which the organization recruits a replacement who is either new to the organization, or hails from somewhere else in the organization outside Betty's department.

Although Class III is perhaps the most common, all three classes can overlap. That is, the organization might recruit a replacement for Betty from outside, and yet still reorganize. Such a case would have some characteristics of both Class II and Class III.

The first two classes are generally more complex, so I'll focus on Class III in this post. And to keep it as simple as possible, I consider only cases that are purely Class III — cases in which the organization recruits a replacement for Betty who is either new to the organization, or who hails from somewhere within the organization but outside Betty's department.

Guiding principles

Even for this restricted class of cases — Class III — it's difficult to prescribe actions that are optimal for all situations. But a small set of guiding principles can be helpful, whether or not a successor has yet been named.

Be a steadying influence

Everyone involved wants to believe that in the end they'll be OK and that Betty's successor will be someone they can trust. But some will succumb to doomsday speculations. Resist the temptation. Be a positive, steadying influence. That's the stance most people want to support.

Prepare to let go of some of your expectations

You might have had some expectations about advantages Betty would have provided for you. They might still arrive, but they're much less certain now, because Betty's influence is much less certain now. Privately, be prepared to let go of those expectations. If they're somehow satisfied, that would be great, but the situation has now changed and you must accept that.

Be the most helpful person in the scene

Step forward and offer your services wherever they might be needed in the transition period from Betty to Sean, her successor. Do what you can to project an impression of cooperation and helpfulness. But don't go overboard — if this impression of you is in stark contrast to your public impression before Betty announced her departure, a sudden change of attitude could harm you more than it might help you.

Be open to the possibility that you might need (or want) to depart

Not all transitions to new leaders work out well for everyone. It's possible that you might want to depart or need to depart. Best to begin your job search immediately if you think there is a significant chance of needing to make a change. Be aware, though, that Betty probably can't take you along with her immediately. Some time might need to pass, even if there is eventually a fit for you in her new organization.

After a successor has been named, there are some actions you can take.

Seek a meeting with Sean

Seek a meeting with Betty's replacement, if possible. It's probably a bit early to expect much from such a meeting, but the seeking is the point. Project the impression that you want to meet Sean and you want to offer background and assistance.

Some people advise that you offer to take on some of Betty's former responsibilities. Be very careful about that. Make yourself generally available but avoid the appearance of being an overly ambitious individual who's only trying to exploit the chaos of the transition.

Keep lists of your successes and strengths at top of mind

Sean will likely be most interested in what you have to offer. If he asks what your strengths are and what your successes have been, it's best to deliver a crisp reply fluently. Prepare.

Last words

If your relationship with Betty has been a warm one, consider the possibility of organizing a farewell gesture of some kind. At the more elaborate end of the range of options is a group trip to a favorite restaurant or watering hole, or a cake-and-coffee in house. At the simpler end of the range of options is a greeting card wishing her farewell, signed by one and all. If your relationship with Betty is more distant, leave space for someone else to organize the farewell gesture, and limit your participation to support.  Top    Next Issue

Love the work but not the job? Bad boss, long commute, troubling ethical questions, hateful colleague? This ebook looks at what we can do to get more out of life at work. It helps you get moving again! Read Go For It! Sometimes It's Easier If You Run, filled with tips and techniques for putting zing into your work life. Order Now!

Your comments are welcome

About Point Lookout

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

This article in its entirety was written by a human being. No machine intelligence was involved in any way.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Organizational Change:

Piling Change Upon Change: Management Credibility

When leaders want to change organizational directions, processes, or structures, some questions arise: How much change is too much change? Here's a look at one constraint: the risk to management credibility.

Good Change, Bad Change: I

Change is all around. Some changes are welcome and some not, but when we distinguish good change from bad, we often get it wrong. Why?

Good Change, Bad Change: II

When we distinguish good change from bad, we often get it wrong: we favor things that would harm us, and shun things that would help. When we do get it wrong, we're sometimes misled by social factors.

Deciding to Change: Choosing

When organizations decide to change what they do, the change sometimes requires that they change how they make decisions, too. That part of the change is sometimes overlooked, in part, because it affects most the people who make decisions. What can we do about this?

Motivation and the Reification Error

We commit the reification error when we assume, incorrectly, that we can treat abstract constructs as if they were real objects. It's a common error when we try to motivate people.

See also Organizational Change and Organizational Change for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming December 11: White Water Rafting as a Metaphor for Group Development

Tuckman's model of small group development, best known as "Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing," applies better to development of some groups than to others. We can use a metaphor to explore how the model applies to Storming in task-oriented work groups. Available here and by RSS on December 11.

And on December 18: Subgrouping and Conway's Law

When task-oriented work groups address complex tasks, they might form subgroups to address subtasks. The structure of the subgroups and the order in which they form depend on the structure of the group's task and the sequencing of the subtasks. Available here and by RSS on December 18.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenyrWpTxHuyCrjZbUpner@ChacnoFNuSyWlVzCaGfooCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

• Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, )
• Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, )
• Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, )
• Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, )
• Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, )
• Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, )

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500-1000 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info