Additionally, there also might be one or two ladder climbers in the lead's org who considered themselves "sure thing" for that lead promotion. They did not get it because you promoted someone else. They will be disillusioned and are very likely to be gone within a year. An unfortunate, but natural consequence of the fact that there are always fewer opportunities to lead than there are people looking to grow. Make sure you can handle losing the overachievers who finished in 2nd place.