Before you pass that torch of leadership to someone, a prudent leader should ask themselves a couple of questions:
Are they a leader? Really?
Have you ever witnessed them exhibiting leadership skill?
Do they deserve the opportunity to “prove” themselves if they haven’t done anything resembling leadership until now?
When I was in the military, promotions were a serious thing. At least the process consisted of more than a mere pulse and breathing check. Even still, it was not perfect and some people who never should have been promoted were… and people likely paid for that with their lives (perhaps not in all cases). But at least in that environment, putting in the work and getting promote did not come with a guarantee that you would be put in charge of anything serious.
“Back In My Day…”
You had to study for boards; ensure your PT was squared away; and make sure you could hit what you were shooting at. At the end of the boards, you were either recommended by your leadership for promotion or not. That recommendation was officially documented in a promotion packet.
After that you were considered “promotable” and still had to keep your PT score and marksmanship score up. The point is, that while not perfect, we still had to hurdle a few more barriers other than still being alive come promotion time.
… but after going over all of the hurdles, promotion was not guaranteed. You simply went on an eligibility list; a competitive points-based list to be precise. If you attained enough points when the cutoff was announced, you got promoted. If not, you waited, you trained, and you worked to get every single point you could. Points could be obtained through marksmanship, PT test scores, professional development (training), or awards.
There were still plenty of opportunities to lead. If someone needed a squad leader in a pinch and you worked out, you could get a lateral promotion to corporal. At senior levels you could get frocked to First Sergeant or Sergeant Major (yes, there was a process to get promoted all the way to the top).
The reality was that it could take years for this process to playout. It could take your whole initial or subsequent enlistments to advance your career. It also was not a perfect process, but it was sound and mostly fair (in my opinion).
Fast Forward to Now
As I worked through my career in the civilian sector in emergency services, I learned that the processes for promotion could not be more dissimilar, or busted. In 2026, you can see people promoted to very important leadership positions (specifically line leadership positions) with a process that consisted of little more than a chat with a chief and having some seniority. You may even see promotion processes where a position description is written and re-written so that a specific individual gets the spot (or doesn’t).
As a senior level leader, where this process of a similar one exists in your organization, you cannot be shocked at what happens next…
Low standards for promotion = Low standards for performance
Those standards filter down to the line, not because there is a ridiculously underqualified leader that got promoted. No. Because they know that they do not have to be particularly good or spectacular at anything in order to advance their careers.
The threshold for success was simply: exist.
This means that the highest level that your organization can possibly hope to aspire to reach is: continued existence. Mediocre at best, with zero expectations for reliability in execution.
If you cannot look at their file and see:
“Completed XYZ process with 123 results.”
“Participated in the planning/execution of XYZ event.”
“Promotion exam score:____ above threshold.”
Take Home
I know this is cliché, but organizations do not rise to the level of their aspirations; they fall to the level of their standards and systems. In other words, they fall to the level of their leadership. You cannot lead an organization beyond your capabilities. You cannot achieve results higher than what can be attained by the worst leaders.
