This is painful, but it is also information. We need to understand honestly whether these departures are about compensation — which we can solve — or whether they are telling us something about our culture, leadership, or direction that we need to hear. Before we replace them, we are sitting with this. The worst outcome would be to hire three external replacements who fit the roles on paper but do not fit the organisation, and find ourselves in the same conversation in eighteen months.

We are activating the succession plan. This is exactly the scenario it was built for. We have mapped critical knowledge dependencies for each role, identified internal candidates at the L-minus-one level, and retained a specialist executive search firm on a standing brief for this cluster. The organisation does not depend on any individual — it depends on the system. The system is functioning. We will have interim appointments in place within 72 hours and permanent solutions within ninety days.

We are not particularly concerned. The people who matter in this organisation are not the ones with the titles — they are the producers, and the producers are not leaving. We are treating each departure as a vacancy for someone better. We will move fast, hire from the competition if we have to, and pay whatever it takes to get someone who can actually perform. We are not sentimental about tenure. Performance is the only thing that counts.

Three departures in a week does not happen by accident. Before we do anything else, we are convening the board and the remaining executive team for an honest conversation about what has been left unsaid. These individuals carried significant institutional knowledge and long-standing client relationships that belong to the organisation, not to them personally, but the transition risks are real. We will ask them to serve extended notice periods if possible and implement a knowledge transfer programme immediately. We will promote from within wherever we can — this is not the moment to introduce unfamiliar faces to our clients.