A critical person becomes unavailable and leadership realizes its coverage plan was mostly an assumption.
What's actually happening
A name on a succession list can conceal gaps in capability, authority, access or capacity. Informal cover may work for a day while leaving the underlying exposure unresolved.
The promise
Make coverage visible and identify the next action to reduce a consequential dependency.
How the tool works
Choose critical roles
Select three whose absence would materially disrupt the business.
Name coverage options
Identify ready-now cover, a possible 90-day option and a credible contingency.
Test the evidence
Record gaps, conditions and an owned development or continuity action.
Tangible output
A three-role coverage map and a prioritized action for the most important gap.
Use it in 10 minutes
Choose the three most disruptive vacancies you could face. Record credible coverage or state that no option exists yet.
Use it with your team
Agree what ready now means, check actual evidence and discuss possibilities with the people involved.
Common misuse
Forcing three internal names, treating a development hypothesis as a promise or using the worksheet to make automatic promotion decisions.
The worksheet is a one-page fillable PDF: click a shaded field to type, use Tab to move between fields, and save your own copy. If your browser preview won’t accept typing, download it and open it in a PDF app.
Why it matters
- Makes key-person dependencies concrete.
- Directs development toward consequential gaps.
- Connects leadership depth with business continuity.
At a glance
Type: Role coverage diagnostic
Family: Leadership Capacity, Succession & Enterprise Value
Status: Free now
Time: 20 minutes for a first three-role review
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