GM Designate: Hiring a Successor Before the Handover

I recently recruited for a role with an unusual title: General Manager Designate.

The client was a long-established community organization. Its next leader would start beside the current one and take over after a planned handover.

Most succession plans live on an org chart. This one put two leaders side by side. Here’s how a designate role works, when it makes sense and what makes the handover hold.

What Does General Manager Designate Mean?

“Designate” means the person has been chosen for the role and will take it on after a transition. They’re not an assistant or a stand-in. They’re the next GM, starting early.

In this case, the new GM would work beside the outgoing one for a set period, then take over.

It’s easy to confuse with a few similar setups:

Setup	Who they are	How long they stay
Designate	The chosen successor, overlapping with the current leader	Long term, once they take over
Interim	A temporary leader holding the role during a gap	Until a permanent hire is made
Assistant or deputy	A second-in-command	No promise of the top job
Direct external hire	A new leader who starts the day the old one leaves	Long term, with no overlap

Why Hire a Successor Before the Job Is Open?

Because some of what a leader knows can’t be written down.

A community organization’s GM works with a board, staff, volunteers and community partners. Those relationships carry years of trust. A new leader who arrives the day after the old one leaves has to rebuild all of it from scratch.

An overlap lets the outgoing GM hand those relationships over in person. It also passes on the knowledge that lives in someone’s head, not in a policy manual: who to call, which weeks of the year are busiest, why things are done a certain way.

Here’s a simple test. BDC suggests asking what would happen if a key person were gone for three months. If the answer is “a lot,” you need a succession plan.

When Does a Designate Make Sense, and When Doesn’t It?

A designate role isn’t right for every organization.

It works well when:

• the current leader’s departure date is known well in advance
• the organization depends heavily on community or partner relationships
• there’s budget to pay two leaders for a period
• the current leader genuinely wants their successor to succeed

It works poorly when:

• the organization needs a turnaround, not continuity
• the current leader is struggling to let go
• the board hasn’t agreed on what it wants from the next leader
• the budget can’t support an overlap

In a turnaround, an overlap can slow down change the organization actually needs. That’s closer to the situation I described in hiring someone to change a team that didn’t ask, and it calls for a different kind of search.

What Does a Good Handover Look Like?

The overlap is the part most likely to go wrong. Two leaders in one building can confuse everyone if the rules aren’t clear.

Before the designate starts, agree on these points:

1. The end date. Set the day full authority changes hands, and share it.
2. The milestones. Decide what the designate should own at one month, three months and handover.
3. Who decides what. Staff need one clear answer about who to go to, and when that changes.
4. The introductions. Plan to meet key board members and partners in person, early.
5. The outgoing leader’s role afterwards. Decide whether they stay available for questions, and for how long.

The fifth point is the easiest to skip. BDC’s advice on leadership transitions is to step back in phases and then let go. A predecessor who lingers can make it hard for the new leader to lead.

What happens after the handover matters just as much. The first 90 days after full responsibility shifts are when a new leader’s credibility gets built or lost.

What Does a Designate Role Cost?

The obvious cost is paying two senior leaders at the same time. For a smaller organization, that’s a real line in the budget, and the board should plan for it before the search starts.

There are quieter costs, too:

• Search time. A designate search has to start well before the departure date, not after it.
• Leadership time. The outgoing leader spends part of their last months teaching instead of running things.
• Staff confusion. If the overlap isn’t managed well, people don’t know who to go to, and work slows down.

Weigh those against the cost of getting it wrong. A rushed external hire with no handover can lose relationships the organization spent years building. For an organization that runs on trust, the overlap is usually the cheaper option.

What Should a Board Look for in a Designate?

Most boards hiring a GM look for some version of:

• sound business and financial judgment
• a track record leading people and running complex operations on a budget
• a real connection to the community the organization serves
• the ability to build trust with a board, staff, volunteers and partners
• ideas for growing what’s already working

Those apply to most GM roles. A designate role adds one more trait that’s easy to overlook.

The best designates learn from their predecessor without becoming a copy of them. They respect what’s working, ask good questions and save their changes until they’ve earned the trust to make them.

Ask about that directly in interviews. Something like: “Tell me about a time you inherited something that was working, and what you changed and didn’t change.”

DMA does senior searches beyond energy, too. Many of the same principles apply that I described in recruiting energy executives in Alberta’s oil sands: the best leaders care about the long-term vision.

What Should Candidates Ask Before Accepting a Designate Role?

A designate role is a bet on a future promotion, so get the details before you say yes.

1. What’s confirmed in writing? The handover date and your appointment as GM should both be in your offer.
2. What happens if the date moves? Ask what changes if the current leader stays longer or leaves sooner.
3. What can you decide during the overlap? Know which decisions are yours from day one.
4. How does the current leader feel about the plan? Ask to meet them before you accept.
5. What does the board expect in year one? Continuity, growth or change? The answer shapes everything.

These are the same instincts I cover in how to know if a company is worth joining, applied to a very specific kind of role.

What Can Smaller Organizations Take From This?

Most small businesses and non-profits will never run a formal succession program. That’s fine. You can still borrow the parts that matter.

• Name your critical roles. Which two or three people would leave a real gap if they left tomorrow?
• Write down what lives in their heads. Key contacts, yearly calendars and the reasons behind how things are done.
• Start the search earlier than feels necessary. Senior searches take time, and an overlap needs a head start.
• Plan for the unplanned. Decide who steps in if someone leaves suddenly, even if it’s only for a few months.

For leaders thinking about their own next chapter, what senior careers look like after 15+ years covers the other side of this conversation.

Let’s Talk

If you chair a board or own a business and a key leader’s retirement is on the horizon, contact me early, before there’s a deadline. The best successions start long before anyone announces anything.

If you’re an experienced leader interested in designate or GM roles, send your resume to debbie@debbiemastel.com.

GM Designate FAQs