II
The Passage
How do we know she can make the decision without asking him?
The Question at the Handrail
Sooner or later, the successor has to make the decision without Mike.
Years beside him help. They do not answer what happens when the signal is faint, the room disagrees and the decision belongs to her.
Someone is expected to take the role in 3–12 months.
A familiar executive is moving into a much less familiar chair.
A new CEO has been chosen, but the old decisions still route back.
The successor has the title waiting, but not yet the hardest decisions.
of directors surveyed were concerned they would not have even one internal CEO candidate ready when needed.
said they had delayed a CEO transition because internal candidates were not ready.
Methodology: 797 directors on U.S. public and private company boards.
The Rehearsal
How does the successor make the judgment their own?
Open the old cases. Change the conditions. Leave a little less of Mike in the room each time.
- Return
- Notice
- Practice
- Stand alone
Open the old cases and lay the records beside them.
Open the old cases and lay the records beside them.
- Old cases
- Old records
Find the clue or exception that changed the decision.
- The telling clue
- Nearby cases
Change the conditions. Let the successor decide and explain why.
- Changed conditions
- Their decision
- Their reasons
Leave Mike out of the room and see what still comes back.
- A decision made alone
- What still returns
The Practice Record
Readiness appears in the decisions they carry alone.
Each round leaves less of Mike in the room—and a clearer record of what still comes back.
01
Give them the case
An old decision returns with the details changed.
A remembered case · A new answer
The new case rhymes with the old one.
02
Listen to the decision
Listen for what they notice, whom they involve and why they choose.
What they saw · Who they involved · Why
The rejected answer often tells its own story.
03
Set the readings side by side
Compare the successor’s reading with Mike’s. Some differences need work; others are worth keeping.
Two readings · An honest difference
A different answer is not always a wrong one.
04
Take away the handrail
Leave the decision with the successor and record what still returns to Mike.
More authority · Less help
The remaining dependency should be visible.
When a long-serving CEO was a top-quartile performer, 69% of successors landed in the bottom half for shareholder returns.
Large public companies; the study does not establish the cause.
When the Weather Turns
Then make the case less familiar.
An illustrative exercise: the conditions change, but the decision still belongs to the successor.
The scenario
Known case
A familiar situation with clean signals.
The successor’s task — unchanged
Known case
A familiar situation with clean signals.
Conditions change
The facts shift. Last time’s answer no longer fits cleanly.
Stakeholder resists
A senior voice pushes back. The decision has to survive the room.
Signal is ambiguous
The evidence points both ways. Waiting and acting both carry a cost.
Incumbent is unavailable
There is no one left to defer to.
The Next Question
One successor can make the crossing. What if Mike is not the only person the company cannot lose?
The Atlas follows the same question across several people, roles and parts of the business.
See The AtlasCommission
$250,000 US dollars
Engagements begin at this figure.
Typical Timeline
4–6 months
Availability
Next starts · Q3 2027
We deliberately limit the number of engagements underway at one time.
How difficult the decisions are and how much the successor already carries.
Frequently Asked
Questions about this engagement
Who is The Passage for?
A company with one seasoned incumbent, one named successor, and important decisions the successor still needs to carry.
How do you see whether the successor is ready?
The successor faces important cases under changing conditions. We record what they notice, decide and explain—and which decisions still return to Mike.
Where does The Passage end?
The Passage follows one incumbent and one successor. Work across additional people, business units, or companies belongs in The Atlas.
This successor may be ready.
What if Mike is not the only one?
The road ahead should remember how the company came this far.