Caution With Promotions: 6 Signs That Reveal a Candidate Is Unsuitable for a Leadership Role

⚠️ Caution With Promotions: 6 Signs Someone Isn’t Ready for a Leadership Role

I’m having lunch when my phone rings. The display shows it’s Laura calling. She’s an engaged CIO I’ve been coaching for some time, and today she needs my advice. I’m curious and ask what’s going on.

“I have a leadership position to fill in my team, but I’m not sure who’s ready for it. In the past, I’ve made some missteps, so this time I really want to know how to tell if someone is fit for leadership.”

I can’t help but smile: in our last coaching session we talked about how, in a world that’s constantly moving and evolving at speed, the difference between excellent organisations and the rest lies in how quickly they can develop effective leaders.

“A promotion into a leadership role isn’t a trivial step — it’s about far more than professional expertise and commitment. Not every employee is suited to it. Let’s figure out what you should look for,” I tell Laura.

Ready for a leadership role?

Identifying future leaders is critical to an organisation’s growth and long-term viability. Appointing the wrong person can damage integrity, performance and team dynamics.

With Laura, I go through six key points. If candidates show one or more of these, it’s a clear warning sign that they’re not (yet) ready for leadership.

1️⃣ Fear of Decisions
Imagine the prospective leader must choose between two marketing strategies. Despite deep research, they hesitate constantly and keep seeking others’ opinions. Their inability to decide paralyses the team and costs progress. In such cases Laura can simply respond to every issue, question or opportunity with “What do you think?” This nudges the employee to decide, take responsibility and stop hiding behind someone else’s judgment.

2️⃣ Dodging Responsibility
Mistakes happen. But instead of owning them, the candidate makes excuses and blames others. If you keep hearing “I’m not responsible, it’s …,” it’s time to act. It’s not about avoiding mistakes — it’s about owning them. A leader must take full responsibility for themselves and their team — not as a martyr, but as a leader.

3️⃣ People-Pleaser
Ironically, trying to keep everyone happy often erodes cohesion and leads to poor results — the opposite of what good leadership delivers. If someone wants to please everyone, they’re not ready for leadership. Leaders must make unpopular decisions and challenge people to bring out their best. They should aim to be respected first, not necessarily liked.

4️⃣ Waiting Instead of Acting
Some prefer to wait things out rather than act. But leadership is about moving things forward. If a candidate never feels responsible and always waits, they need to work on their skills before stepping up.

5️⃣ Recognition Hunger
Those who constantly put themselves in the spotlight and claim credit undermine team morale and block creativity. Such candidates should take to heart the words of American football coach Bear Bryant:

“When something goes wrong: I did it.
When something goes halfway right: We did it.
When something goes really well: You did it.”

6️⃣ Conflict Avoidance
Leaders who avoid hard conversations and ignore problems allow negativity to spread. If a candidate refuses to confront underperformance or bad behaviour, the whole team suffers. Part of leadership is addressing these issues constructively to protect team integrity and productivity.

The right leaders make the difference

After our conversation, Laura has six clear red flags to watch for in her leadership candidates. I remind her once more:

“In today’s fast-paced world, the difference between excellent organisations and the rest lies in how effectively they develop new leaders.”

If you’d like support with this development, check out my current book: “The Hero’s Journey of a Leader: How to Become the Best Version of Yourself as a Leader” (available via Amazon, Orell Füssli, Wiley or directly from the author). It includes a step-by-step guide to developing future leaders.