I’m taking extended leave and management has zero coverage plans

A reader writes:

I’m going on extended leave in six weeks and there is zero — I mean zero 00 — coverage lined up.

I lead a team responsible for delivering a major client contract. Management has been aware of my plans for months but interviews start this week so it’s really unlikely the new person will start before my leave. There is nobody internally I can transition my tasks to in the interim — I’ve asked and made a few suggestions, but nothing. Leadership fired the project manager and haven’t renewed the contract for my only peer, so it’s also likely there will be no client-facing leadership or anyone to manage the team once I go on leave.

When I first started following up about transition plans a few months ago, both my C-suite boss and the CEO said they planned to hire an external replacement rather than move someone internally. After a few weeks of no progress, I offered to work on a job description and reached out to HR directly. They responded promptly and noted this was a priority, but then made no tangible progress for two months. I asked every week or so for updates, and they would deflect or send generic “sorry for the delay, it’s in progress” kind of responses.

Last week, after the project manager got fired as aftermath of a completely separate project, I met with the CEO and asked how we would manage the risk, given it was so close to my own departure. The CEO brushed off the impact of losing the project manager, saying that role would be easy to replace (despite no planning for this before the firing) and then called it a management failure (i.e., blaming my boss) that there was no replacement for me in place yet. I also asked if the CEO could help accelerate renewal of my co-lead’s contract, which has been languishing for months. He was surprised and unaware that had not been finalized yet, as it is being managed by a different C-suite person.

As context, there is a lot of organizational turnover (including in the HR team) and my C-suite is infamously bad at decision-making. My view is that they intend to keep the project going, but the execution got embroiled in internal politics and bad timing.

I’m trying to document and empower my team as much as possible, but do I just let this entire project and client relationship fall apart? Is there a middle option that doesn’t involve me working during my leave?

I know this sounds flip but: it’s not your problem.

You will be on extended leave. You will not be available. You gave them months of notice, you followed up and reminded and pushed, and you nudged multiple people.

This is not on you. They will have to figure it out.

And frankly, they will figure it out. It might be messy and chaotic and there will almost certainly be lost opportunities and more stress for your team than there should have been, but they will eventually figure something out, because that’s what happens in situations like these. Do not make it your problem to manage how that happens.

You’re right to document as much as you can and to empower your team as much as you can, and it’s worth one final, very clear statement to both your boss and the CEO that you will be fully unavailable during your leave so if they need any information from you, now is the time to get it … but then you should go on leave and not think about this.

And no, a solution should not be you working during your leave! You didn’t create this situation, you’re not responsible for it, and they will need to figure it out without you. Which, again, they will.

I know it’s rough to watch this kind of chaos when you’re invested in the work and the client relationship and you care about your team, and you’re presumably going to be coming back to all of those things at some point, and you’re a conscientious person. But this job is not your child; it is a business relationship where they pay you for your labor. Stay clear on the boundaries of that relationship!

You get to take your long-planned leave and not think about this, and that’s what you should do.

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