“We thought we could wait.” — How one leadership gap cost 9 months of momentum.

Earlier this year, I got a call from a VP of Operations at a global manufacturer.

Their MES leader — the one who had scoped, implemented, and run their digital manufacturing platform for 6 years — had just handed in their resignation.

The VP told me:

“We thought we could wait. The timing’s bad right now. We’ll get through the quarter and then start the search.”

The Slow Slide

For the first few weeks, nothing looked broken. The remaining team “kept things going” — firefighting when needed.

But gradually, the cracks widened:

• Decision bottlenecks: Without a clear leader, vendor decisions sat in limbo.
• Loss of momentum: Ongoing projects slowed because no one had the authority — or confidence — to push them forward.
• Knowledge drain: Only the departing leader truly understood the integrations, vendor nuances, and historical decisions that kept the system stable.

By the time they officially kicked off the hiring process, 9 months had passed. They weren’t just filling a role — they were climbing out of a hole.

The Real Gap

The empty seat wasn’t the real problem. The real problem was the delay. Those 9 months cost them project time, talent credibility, and market opportunities.

This is exactly why I created the Critical Leadership Gaps Scorecard — a simple, 5-minute tool that helps companies spot their most vulnerable leadership positions before they become urgent.

The scorecard assesses four key areas:

1. Critical Role Clarity – Do you know exactly what each role is responsible for, and who could step in?
2. Leadership Bench Strength – Who’s ready (or nearly ready) to step up?
3. Knowledge & IP Risk – How much critical know-how lives in one person’s head?
4. External Market Readiness – If you needed to hire today, how quickly could you attract the right talent?

It’s not about creating panic. It’s about avoiding costly delays by making sure you’re ready before you have to be.

You can take the scorecard here It’s free, fast, and it might save you 9 months of lost momentum.

About Me

I’m Daniel Langley, Founder of MITREC Executive Search. For over 10 years, I’ve worked with more than 250 manufacturing companies across the UK, Europe, USA, and Middle East, helping them hire senior leaders in MES, Smart Manufacturing, and Industry 4.0.

I’ve sat in on 3,000+ leadership interviews, built leadership teams for multi-million-dollar transformations, and helped companies protect themselves from the hidden costs of leadership gaps.

When I’m not advising manufacturing leaders on talent strategy, you’ll find me in Dubai with my wife and two young kids — or on a call helping a client solve their next big hiring challenge before it slows them down.

Hope this helps.

Dan.