# "The pipeline looks thin"

## This week's cartoon

![Cartoon: a succession planning meeting around a conference table under an empty gold throne labeled SUCCESSOR. A cheerful manager with a lanyard gestures at the vacant seat and says, "The pipeline looks thin this year." Through the open doorway marked Succession Planning Meeting, the obvious candidate stands in the hallway holding a folder, uninvited.](../../img/cartoons/pipeline-looks-thin.png)

> _Caption: The successor was in the hallway._

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### Script

**Situation:** Everyone treats you as the natural next leader, but nothing has been said out loud or put in writing. You are doing successor work without successor clarity, and you want to make the path explicit without looking like you are grabbing for the seat.

> "I want to make sure I'm building toward what the business needs in the transition. Can we talk about what the path looks like, and what concrete signal would mean I'm on it — a development plan, an expanded mandate, or exposure to the people who decide?"

**Why it works:** It frames the ask as planning, not ambition, so it reads as responsible leadership rather than a power grab. It also forces a concrete signal instead of warm air. Enthusiasm with specifics is a green light. Vagueness or deflection is data you need now, while you still have optionality — not two years later, when the empty throne was never actually yours.