I’ve promoted people too soon. More than once, actually. And I’m guessing you have too, or you’re watching it happen right now.
This may sound familiar: the person who was brilliant at their previous level, seemed ready for more responsibility and got a promotion. Maybe they’d been pushing for it. Maybe the business needed to fill the role quickly. Maybe they’d earned it after years of solid performance.
Promoting them as a happy occasion for all involved. All was good.
And now they’re visibly struggling.
The work isn’t quite right. Decisions are taking too long. The team has noticed. And worst of all, they know it too. You can see it in how they show up to meetings, in the questions they ask, in the way they’re working longer hours but producing less output.
Here’s what makes this so difficult: You can’t just take the promotion back. But you also can’t pretend everything’s fine while they (and possibly the team) slowly lose confidence.
I learned this the hard way when running my own agency – a few times.
I promoted someone who had been performing well:
- They’d been excellent at managing client relationships
- Their work was great.
- They were keeping projects on track.
- Their colleagues respected them.
They seemed ready for the next level.
Except the new role required a few things that they’d never actually done before:
- Strategic thinking they hadn’t needed before.
- People leadership they’d never done.
- Commercial judgment they were still building.
Within two months, it was clear something wasn’t working. Within four months, the team was routing around them and coming directly to me.
I waited too long to have the conversation because I didn’t want to admit the promotion might have been premature. That delay made everything harder, for both of us.
Today, I want to talk about why this happens more often than managers admit, what struggling actually looks like and the specific conversation you need to have to fix things..
The gap between ‘ready enough’ and ‘actually ready’
Let’s start with why this happens in the first place, because understanding it helps you have the conversation later.
There are a few common pressure points that lead to premature promotions.
The business needs it
You need to fill a role. The options are limited. You have someone internal who’s 70% ready, or you hire externally and risk losing the internal person who wants progression. You convince yourself that 70% is close enough, that they’ll grow into it.
Sometimes you’re right. Sometimes you’re not.
Potential outweighs actual performance
You promote someone based on their trajectory rather than their current capability. They’re trending in the right direction. They’re motivated. They’ve shown glimpses of the next level. Surely the promotion will unlock that potential.
Except potential isn’t the same as capability. And a new title doesn’t automatically build skills that aren’t there yet.
But they’ve earned it!
They’ve been great at their current level for years. They’ve been loyal. They’ve done everything asked of them. It feels like the natural next step.
But being brilliant at one level doesn’t automatically mean readiness for the next. A great account manager isn’t automatically a great account director. The skills are different. The judgment required is different. The role demands things they haven’t had to do before.
This is also known as the Peter Principle.
Why might you as their manager have missed the signs?
Honestly? Because you wanted to believe they were ready and our confirmation bias is powerful. You focused on the evidence that supported the promotion and downplayed the gaps.
Or you didn’t have a clear enough picture of what “ready” actually looked like for this specific role. You knew they were good and you knew the role needed filling, but you didn’t precisely define the capabilities required.
It’s a bit like hiring someone without writing a detailed job description.
Or there was external pressure. Retention risk (they were getting restless and really wanted a promotion). Team morale (others were watching to see if good performance gets rewarded). Budget approval (you had headcount now, might not later).
All of these are understandable. None of them make this easier to deal with now.
Here’s the thing: The problem isn’t that you made a bad decision with the information you had. The problem is what you do now.
Where to start – name the problem but don’t make it a performance review
Right, let’s talk about the conversation you need to have. This is probably the most important part of this article because getting this conversation right makes everything else possible.
What this conversation is actually about
This is an acknowledgment that the role is harder than either of you expected. It’s a collaborative problem solving session. It’s a reset of expectations and support structure.
You need to be clear that it’s not a performance review. It’s not a demotion conversation (that may come later if needed, but this isn’t it). It’s not a formal performance improvement plan.
And critically, it’s not an apology for promoting them. That centres you and your feelings, not them and their situation. Don’t make this about your guilt.
Here’s how I’d suggest opening this conversation:
“I want to talk about how the last [three months, four months, whatever the timeframe is] has gone in your new role. I don’t think either of us expected it to be quite this challenging and I want to be honest about what I’m seeing and work with you on how we move forward.”
That’s it. Direct. Clear about intent. Collaborative in framing.
Specific things to say
Obviously every situation is different, so please keep this in mind. But to help make this as concrete and actionable as possible, here are some pointers on the kinds of things that you could say in this difficult situation.
“Here are the specific areas where I’m seeing you struggle.”
Then name them. Concretely – just as you would with any type of feedback.
Not: “I think you’re finding the strategic side difficult.”
Instead: “In the last three client strategy presentations, the strategic narrative hasn’t been clear. Clients are asking questions that suggest the strategy isn’t landing. That’s a gap we need to close.”
Not: “You seem uncertain about managing the team.”
Instead: “I’ve noticed you’re asking me for approval on delegation decisions and team structure changes that should be your call. I need you to be making those decisions independently.”
Be specific. Vague feedback doesn’t help anyone.
It’s also important to accept some of the responsibility here for where things have ended up. Again, the reasons here may differ, but here are some common issues that you could talk about:
“Some of this is on me. I didn’t set you up with enough support, or enough clarity about what success looks like, or enough training to build these capabilities. We’re going to fix that together.”
That’s not taking all the blame. It’s acknowledging your part in the situation. It changes the dynamic from “you’re failing” to “we’re solving this together.”
Then you need to get specific about what happens next and what success looks like:
“Here’s what success actually looks like in this role.”
And be specific about the three or four most important capabilities they need to build. Also remember that you need to help with these capabilities too.
For an account director role, that might be: “Strategic client thinking. People leadership and development. Commercial judgment about profitability and resource allocation. Senior stakeholder management.”
Finally, you need to hear from them and get their perspective:
“Let’s talk about what support would actually help you build these capabilities. I have some ideas, but I want to hear from you first about where you’re feeling stuck.”
This conversation is going to be uncomfortable. For both of you. Do it anyway.
How to close the gap without becoming a micromanager
As we’ve discussed, you need to provide support and help them with their journey – but you need to tread the line between getting close enough to help without being a micromanager.
Here are a few ways that you can do this.
Time bound intensive support (not indefinite hand holding)
Increase your one on one frequency temporarily. If you’re meeting weekly, go twice weekly for the next six weeks. If you’re meeting fortnightly, go weekly.
This isn’t permanent. It’s intensive support while they build capability.
Each session has a specific skill building focus. For example: “For the next month, we’re going to spend the first 20 minutes of our one-on-one working through your strategic approach to client conversations before you have them. You’ll talk through your thinking, I’ll ask questions and help you pressure test it, then you’ll go have the conversation.”
Be clear about the end date. “We’ll do this for six weeks, then we’ll reassess where you are and what support still makes sense.”
If delegation is the gap: sit in on their delegation conversations for the first few. Debrief afterwards. “Here’s what worked. Here’s what I’d do differently. Try this next time.”
If stakeholder management is the gap: they shadow you first. “You’re going to join my next three executive updates. Watch how I frame the strategic narrative, how I handle questions, how I manage the room. Then you’ll do yours with me sitting in. Then you’ll do yours solo.”
This is proper support and guidance. You’re not doing it for them. You’re showing them how, then practising with them, then stepping back.
Provide clarity on non-negotiables vs taking time to learn
Be really explicit about this. “Here are the two or three things that have to be right, no exceptions. Everything else, you have room to learn and occasionally mess up.”
For example: “Client communication and team morale are non-negotiables. If clients are unhappy or the team is struggling, we need to address that immediately. Your strategic frameworks and your presentation style, those you can experiment with. Try different approaches. Some will work better than others. That’s fine.”
This gives them permission to learn without feeling like everything is high stakes. It gives them some autonomy to find their own way towards the solution.
Here’s the thing: This level of support feels like a lot. It is. It’s time intensive. It requires real attention from you.
But it’s temporary and it’s specific. You’re building capability, not creating dependency.
The alternative is watching them slowly fail while you hope they figure it out. That’s worse for everyone.
