Each of us experiences transition during our career. We earn a new position within the same organization, we move from one organization to another, or we transition from full-time employment to some form of retirement.
I want to share seven transition principles based on my work with those who have made this movement, particularly from full-time leadership to another stage of life.
#1: Transitional space feels different to those passing through it
The
person leaving an organization will feel that a transition out of leadership is
happening too quickly. There is more to teach one's successor and more to accomplish toward the goals one had set.
The person entering this leadership position will feel that the transition happens far too slowly. There is energy and creative ideas needing to be unleashed, but none of this can happen until the current leader steps away.
#2: Your influence goes over a cliff
The individual leaving an organization will cling to the belief that people will call her seeking her counsel and years of wisdom. This may happen over quiet lunches, away from the limelight, but those who take the reins will call.
Reality? No one will call. No one will seek your counsel or ask for your accumulated wisdom. Your influence goes over a cliff. It does not recede at a gentle pace.
#3: You are not the organization
Leaders often take criticism of an organization personally because over time they see themselves as having become their organizations. Wise leaders recognize that this linkage of personal identity to the organization is unhealthy. The organization typically outlasts the leader (certainly this is what a healthy leader desires) and many of its issue and strengths belong to the organization and not to any one person.
#4: Leave a legacy and not merely a functioning organization
Leaving an organization prepared for its next leader and for the changes that will inevitably come, is a great accomplishment. It is handing off success from one generation to the next. It is succession.
Leaving an organization with a culture that endures from generation to generation, with a set of values and a way of doing things that embodies those values, requires intentionality and discipline. It is leaving a legacy or preserving the legacy that you inherited as leader.
#5: Leave well
Knowing when to leave is critical. Knowing how to leave and choosing to do it that way requires humility. A great leader sets up the next leader for success. He handles many of the challenges faced by the organization before leaving while having the discipline to not make sweeping changes as he walks out the door. He hands his successor an opportunity primed for success.
NOTE: Often this means that observers will credit the new leader with great vision and turning the organization around when this transformation would have been less likely to happen and unlikely to succeed without the humility of the leader who walks away.
#6: Find your next act
There's a great deal of emphasis these days on retiring to something rather than simply retiring from something. For some people this next act looks like something entirely new while for others it is a continuation, an evolution, of what they have been doing. We were created to work, to influence, to make a difference in the lives of those around us. Keep at this as long as you have strength.
#7: Life is rarely like Ohio State vs. Purdue (Oct 20, 2012)
My son and I attended the Ohio State vs. Purdue football game on Saturday, Oct 20, 2012. Ohio State was ranked #7 in the nation and was 7-0 coming into the game. Purdue was unranked and was 3-3. In its previous two games the Boilermakers had given up 82 points while scoring only 27. Yet it took a last-second touchdown and two-point conversion for Ohio State's backup quarterback, Kenny Guiton, to force overtime. It was a thrilling end to a terrible game for us Buckeyes.
Few people get the opportunity to experience a terrible life that ends well. Unfortunately, it is not that unusual for people to take a great life and to cap it off with a legacy-destroying last act. Make sure you end well. Key to this is recognizing that we are each bit players who have our opportunity to impact those around us for some combination of good and ill.
Transition well. End well.
I encourage you to reread my
Aug 2013 newsletter featuring
Dieter Tasso and the story of his transition.
