Because I do a lot of work developing leaders and writing on leadership, I often get asked what I think about particular leaders. One question arises regularly that pertains to the differences in style when there’s a change at the top: “Why can’t Bill (the current CEO) be more like Ed (the former CEO)?”

The question really reflects the sense of loss that employees experience when a charismatic, personable, and engaging leader is succeeded by someone less personable and focused solely on the bottom line.

The loss is evident in the remarks of the staff: “It’s like the soul of the company has gone; We’re not the same company anymore; Things have changed; There’s no sense of loyalty anymore; I used to be proud to work here, now it’s just a job.”

They’re right, of course. Things have changed. The changes they describe and the loss they feel are real and common.

Charismatic leaders often represent the company at its best – instilling the belief that those lucky enough to be on board are part of something special. Rarely do successors to charismatic leaders embody the same energy, personality, and enthusiasm.

The hard truth to be faced is that the good old days are gone forever. We can remember nostalgically the days of Camelot, or that special summer vacation during college, or our idyllic junior year in high school. While we yearn for them, we know they will never return.

You know what? That’s OK. Yes, we’d like to return to the good old days of yesteryear. Those days are rare, marvelous, and memorable. However, no matter how much we might yearn for them, they are part of the past, not the present. The passing of the mantle of leadership inevitably includes the feelings of loss we experience when someone we know and admire leaves.

Now, our job is to remember the past as the pas and try to recapture something that can never be reclaimed. With changes in leadership, like changes in the seasons, the task is to recognize and accept the changes in the circumstances and adapt accordingly.

Granted, that’s not easy – we legitimately mourn the loss. But at the same time, it’s the only way to ensure that we don’t live in the past.

What if you’re the one succeeding a charismatic leader? What can you do? In the next issue, I’ll talk about what it’s like to replace a charismatic predecessor. Not an easy job.

This week, I’m playing in a special golf tournament – The Tinelli Invitational Tournament – organized by my grown sons. We started the annual event three years ago after the boys graduated from college and had begun their professional careers.

The tournament began when my older son, Chris, said, “Dad, we need something to bring us together now that we’re done with school.” He suggested the tournament and now, once a year, we get together for a week of golf.

It has become more than just a golf tournament.

It has become an opportunity for the three of us to reconnect and to reaffirm the importance of our relationship to one another. It’s a special, memorable event that we look forward to throughout the year.

Leaders create similar opportunities for their organizations. Leaders find ways to celebrate. The specific purpose of the celebration is less important than the fact that there is something to celebrate.

Celebrations provide people with meaning beyond the mundane. Celebrations provide people with an opportunity to transcend the daily grind and to honor those things that touch us more deeply and more personally.

What have you and your organization celebrated recently?

I spend a lot of my time in organizations. Organizations, like countries, have distinctive and readily noticeable cultures. Culture is easy to spot.

One of my clients, an engineering firm in the Midwest with whom I've been working for several years to develop their next generation of leaders, takes advantage of the summer months to celebrate. Every Wednesday, like clockwork, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, an ice cream truck pulls up in the parking lot.

Out of the building stream engineers, architects, surveyors, and support staff. Most of the office takes a moment to enjoy a Popsicle, an ice cream bar, or an ice cream cone. Their kids have begun to show up too, with mom or dad, to meet their parent's co-workers and have a treat, with the company picking up the tab.

A small thing, yes, but it's a celebration of ice cream and summer before the snows, inevitably, fall in Wisconsin.

More importantly, though, it confirms and communicates the culture of an organization that recognizes the importance of family.

What does your culture say about you and your organization?