What Happens When the Person Who Knows Everything Leaves?

Several years ago, I unexpectedly found myself taking over the leadership of our local soccer program. I inherited a small group of relatively new Board members, but I quickly discovered that virtually everything had revolved around the previous Program Director. Scheduling. Ordering jerseys. Securing fields. Making operational decisions. Knowing who to contact and when.

It all lived with one person.

On the surface, that can make someone appear indispensable. Everyone goes to them for answers. Every decision seems to require their involvement. They know how everything works.I

But doing everything isn’t the same as leading.

There had been very little delegation of responsibility. There was no Assistant Director being prepared to eventually step into the role. More importantly, there were virtually no documented policies, procedures or processes to tell us how the program actually operated.

When that person was suddenly no longer there, much of the program’s institutional knowledge went with him.

So instead of being able to concentrate on moving the program forward, a small group of volunteers had to spend an inordinate amount of time asking questions, finding information, recreating processes and establishing responsibilities. We had to create clarity before we could create momentum.

Dependency Can Look Like Importance

This isn’t unique to sports associations. It happens in businesses, nonprofits and volunteer organizations all the time. One person gradually takes responsibility for more and more. Perhaps it’s because they have been there the longest. Perhaps it’s simply easier for them to do something themselves than teach someone else. Eventually everyone starts saying:

“Ask John. He knows how that works.”

That can sound reassuring. It shouldn’t.

It may be telling you that your organization has developed a single point of failure. The problem isn’t that one person knows too much. The problem is that the organization knows too little without them. And that’s why succession planning needs to be about much more than identifying who takes over someone’s position.

What Actually Leaves When Someone Leaves?

When an experienced Board member, Program Director, manager or employee leaves, the organization doesn’t just lose a person. It can lose relationships, history, processes, contacts, deadlines and the reasons behind decisions that were made years ago. Some of that knowledge can be documented. Some needs to be shared by involving other people in the work.

And some is transferred by developing future leaders before they are needed. In sports associations, we should be thinking about this at both the Board and program level. Who could step into the President’s, Treasurer’s or Facilities Director’s role? Who is learning how those positions work?

At the program level, what happens when a Program Director decides it is time to move on? Is there an Assistant Director? Are responsibilities distributed across a functioning Board? Does someone else understand registration, scheduling, equipment, facilities and communication? Or will the next person have to start again?

Succession Starts Before Someone Resigns

Succession planning doesn’t require a complicated manual sitting on a shelf. Good role descriptions, an annual calendar, contact lists, basic policies, checklists and simple playbooks can capture an enormous amount of institutional knowledge. More importantly, leaders need to delegate.

Give other people responsibility. Let them make decisions. Help them understand not just what needs to happen, but why. Because leadership isn’t about making yourself indispensable.

A leader’s job isn’t to be at the center of everything. It is to build an organization that can function without them.

That requires a different mindset. Instead of asking, “What do I need to get done?” we should occasionally ask, “What am I doing that somebody else needs to learn?” Instead of waiting for a resignation before discussing succession, we should be developing people while the current leader is still there. And instead of allowing knowledge to live primarily in people’s heads, we should turn as much of it as possible into organizational knowledge.

The Question Worth Asking

Think about your own organization. If one of your key people told you today that they were leaving, what would you lose besides the person? What do they know that nobody else knows? Who are they developing behind them? And perhaps the most uncomfortable question:

If you left your own role tomorrow, would your successor inherit a functioning role — or would they have to reconstruct it?

Dependency can look like importance. Leadership creates capability.