#059
When a Key Executive Leaves, the Department Falls Apart. It's Not About Who Can Take Over — It's About a System That Was Never Built.
核心高管一走部门就乱。不是没人能接，是系统没建起来。
一位能源科技创始人与聊了一个小时。
他说：“我的核心高管一走，整个部门就乱了。想从内部提拔，没人接得住；想从外面招，空降兵活不过半年。我感觉被那几个人‘绑架’了。怎么办？”
我问他：“你是在‘用人’，还是在‘靠人’？”
他愣了一下：“有区别吗？”
我说：“‘用人’是你有系统、有流程，谁走了都能顶上。‘靠人’是没了这个人，事就转不动。你现在是哪种？”
他沉默了一会儿：“……靠人。”
我又问：“那你这套系统，是为‘人’设计的，还是为‘事’设计的？”
他说：“为‘人’。”
那天我们没再聊招聘。我们做了一件事：把他公司里几个关键岗位的“工作内容”，从“谁来做”改成“需要做什么事”。
不是“张三负责客户”，是“客户管理需要做这几件事：每周回访、数据记录、问题升级流程……”
写完之后他发现：原来不是没人能接，是他从来没把“事”拆清楚。
三个月后他告诉我：两个关键岗位顺利交接了。接的人不是天才，是知道了“到底要做什么”。
他说：“以前我怕人走，现在我不怕了。因为我知道，谁走都有人能接上。”
如果你也被‘人一走、事就停’困住 ，与我联系。一起找到问题的根。你的时间与精力，应该花在高回报的目标上。
(案例已脱敏，经本人同意分享)
徐敏聪
商业教练 ｜为赢而练
我帮创始人及CEO先赢，再长。
An energy tech founder sat with me for an hour.
“My core executive left, and the whole department went into chaos,” he said. “I tried promoting from within, no one was ready. I tried hiring from outside, they didn't last six months. I feel like I'm being held hostage by a few people. What do I do?”
I asked him: “Are you 'deploying' people, or 'depending' on people?”
He paused. “Is there a difference?”
“'Deploying' means you have systems and processes, whoever leaves, someone else can step in. 'Depending' means without this person, things stop moving. Which one are you right now?”
He was quiet for a moment. “…Depending.”
I followed up: “And is your system designed for the person, or for the work?”
He said: “For the person.”
That day, we didn't talk about hiring. We did one thing: we went through his key roles and rewrote their job descriptions , not as “who does this,” but as “what needs to be done.”
Not “Zhang San handles clients,” but “client management involves: weekly check-ins, data logging, escalation protocols…”
After mapping it out, he realized: it wasn't that no one could step up. It was that he'd never broken down the work clearly enough.
Three months later, he told me: two key roles transitioned smoothly. The successors weren't geniuses, they just finally knew what they were actually responsible for.
“I used to fear people leaving,” he said. “Now I don't. Because I know whoever leaves, someone else can take over.”
If you're also stuck in the cycle of ‘when someone leaves, everything stops’ - reach out. Let's find the root together. Your time and energy deserve to be spent on high-return goals.
(This case has been anonymized and is shared with the individual's consent)
David Tsui
Business Coach | Coached To WIN
Helping founders and CEOs WIN, then GROW
