The executive-team checklist: make your promotion case real

You are close to the executive team, but not on it. Manulife put Sarah Chapman into a global chief marketing and customer experience role, effective January 1, 2027, with a reporting line to CEO Phil Witherington and a place on the Executive Leadership Team.

A manager who has written promotion cases and lost some knows the difference: the winning case matches the org chart, not the one that sounds impressive in a meeting.

A named seat is the first proof

Before you ask for the step up, check whether the seat exists as a named role, not a vague future possibility. A company that says you are next in line but cannot name the position is offering a hope, not a promotion.

A named seat gives you a concrete reference: a title, a reporting line, and a place in the top team.

Wider scope is the actual level change

A promotion to the executive team should widen what you are accountable for, not just add a word to your title. A new role that covers the same customers, the same budget, and the same decisions is a bigger chair, not a higher level.

Manulife's new mandate covered the Global Marketing organization, brand, marketing, and enterprise customer experience strategies.

The seat reached beyond one regional market, extending that authority over brand, marketing, and enterprise customer experience to Canada, Asia, Europe, and John Hancock in the US.

Enterprise customer experience was folded into the global marketing mandate rather than left as a separate function.

At the time, Chapman held the Manulife Canada chief marketing officer role and was also leading global digital, customer centricity, and sustainability work.

She had earlier held a chief marketing officer role in Manulife Wealth and Asset Management.

Chapman's move to a global executive leadership seat came about five months after she took the Manulife Canada CMO role.

Scope is the part of the case that should be hardest to fake. You can list projects, but the next seat needs a wider decision surface.

A runway date makes it succession

A date is what separates a real succession move from a flattering conversation. Without a date, the organization can delay you without moving you.

Manulife had earlier said it would name a successor in due course after Karen Leggett, Global Chief Marketing Officer, indicated she planned to step down at the end of 2026.

That succession was tied to the retirement, with a transition period meant to keep leadership continuity.

Phil Witherington framed the appointment as deliberate succession planning and a sign of a strong internal talent pipeline.

For you, the date should be visible enough to plan against: a transition window, a handover period, or a start date. A someday date leaves the case unready.

A date also protects the human part. It gives the outgoing leader time to hand over context, and it gives you time to prepare without pretending the move is already yours.

The checklist turns the ask into an audit

Use this before you ask. The first three items check the org chart; the fourth checks your record. Each item should be answerable with a yes or no, not a story.

• Is there a named seat? Can the company name the role, the reporting line, and the place on the executive leadership team? Without a clear yes, you are asking for a future, not a position.
• Is the scope broader than your current role? Does the new seat add markets, functions, budgets, or decisions that your current role does not control? When the answer is only more visibility, the scope is not real.
• Is there a runway date? Is there a start date, transition period, or retirement or departure date that makes the move a succession plan? A vague date keeps the case in conversation.
• What evidence proves you can run it? Can you point to work that matches the wider scope, not just excellence in the current seat? The evidence should show you can run the next mandate, not just the present one.

When you make the ask, put the four answers in front of the decision-makers before the conversation starts: the seat, the scope, the date, and the evidence that proves you can run it.