Hey Babs, Ready to Retire but Where Are the Next Leaders?

Wonderful work, distressing feedback, and the Rubik’s Cube.

Hey Babs,

I love the non-profit that I work for but I am ready to retire. I have been the Executive Director for going on 15 years and during that time I have taken it from a well-intentioned but struggling organization getting by on small unreliable grants, a few underpaid staff, and a dedicated but dwindling group of volunteers to a robust well-endowed thriving organization with offices across Canada, an amazing and growing staff, and award-winning programs.

This year I began preparing staff for my retirement. This included my approaching key staff about their interest in becoming the Executive Director. All gave a firm “no” and when I recently circled back to see if this was still true, they were even more adamant.

Although the Board has expressed hope for an internal candidate, they began some preliminary work with a national recruitment firm. According to the recruitment firm, and to information available through organizations such as Charity Village and Imagine Canada, the proposed compensation package is very generous and initially the firm foresaw no challenges in filling the position.

The Board then requested that the firm interview me and other key staff members to begin drafting a job description (I have never had one) and invitation. As part of the interviews the firm was to assess the interest of possible internal candidates. From this process the firm brought to the Board some distressing feedback about how staff perceived the position. The feedback was critical of work hours, lifestyle, wellness, stress, and job satisfaction. In other words, they viewed the role and my work as unhealthy and undesirable.

I have loved being the Executive Director and all that I have accomplished over the years. I am concerned for our sector if up-and-coming leaders are not willing to stretch a little to make a difference in this world. The Board has asked me to commit to not retiring until at least next June while we consider next steps for recruiting my replacement.

I am puzzled, where are the next leaders and what do they need to see to consider this wonderful work?

C.

Hey C.,

How very fortunate you are to have had work that you can call wonderful and look back on with pride. That is a strong place to step forward from into whatever you are considering next.

In the meantime, you have a puzzle to work with and an opportunity to ensure continuous strong leadership of all that you have grown for your organization and of all that will come.

The puzzle, as you have identified it, is “where are the next leaders and what do they need to see to consider this wonderful work?”.

The first part of the puzzle is easy. The next leaders are all around us.

The second part is slightly more challenging.

But what if, much like solving a Rubik’s Cube*, we turn the puzzle around a bit and ask, “what needs to be different so that others might see themselves doing wonderful work in this role?”

The cool thing about exploring this perspective is that you have already been given some clues – different hours, lifestyle, wellness, stress, and job satisfaction.

I have a few observations from your letter that I want to share with you in hopes that they will be helpful as you map out the next steps.

1. Key staff members told this crucial feedback to the recruitment firm, not to you.
   1. Where is the space in your organization and in your leadership for this type of feedback?
   2. What happens if you allow yourself to get curious about what they may have been trying to say with their “no”?
   3. How would you feel about going back to those who said “no” and asking what it would take for them to consider a “yes”? If you haven’t yet, you might want to first spend some time thinking about your work culture and psychological safety.**

2. Are you ready to let go? Like, really let go.
   1. You refer to staff, but there is no mention of a leadership or executive team. Does your organizational structure have formal leadership roles other than the ED and the Board? If yes, where are they? If no, why not?
   2. It can be challenging to let go, or to even delegate on the way to letting go, when we think of ourselves as the rescuer or lone builder of an organization. It is extra challenging without a job description.
   3. What if the next Executive Director, working with the Board, has a different idea of how the role is doable and successful at fewer hours a week, with more shared responsibilities, and all in all perhaps a little less of what you may be referring to as “stretch” but what some might call personal sacrifice?
   4. You mentioned replacing you. What happens if you think about this process as not replacing you, but finding the next leader with their own unique skills and abilities for the unknown future of the organization?

3. Along with hearing from staff, the recruitment firm also heard from you. What do you think you might have said about the role that may have in part informed the “distressing feedback”?
   1. Is there a possibility that you made comments about hours, responsibilities, or personal choices that may have been interpreted as less than desirable?
   2. It may be interesting for you to to chat with the firm to explore how their understanding of your role and work aligns with their experience with successful succession planning, recruitment, and retainment.

4. Here is a nudge to all of us involved with leadership development. Pay attention to succession and leadership planning before it wakes you up at 1AM like A Christmas Carol ghost (you pick which one – past, present, and future spectres all work here). Why? Because everyone in all ED/CEO and other key leadership positions in all organizations leaves sometime somehow.
   1. It is commendable that the Board is beginning recruitment work now rather than closer to or after the expected retirement date, as sometimes happens.
   2. The Board is hoping for an internal candidate and yet there is no mention of internal leadership development.
   3. We need, as a leadership community, to be talking and taking action on succession planning, both within our organizations, and across sectors, so that our cherished organizations and businesses have as smooth as possible transitions in key leadership positions.

C., I appreciate that you have brought this to “Hey Babs” to poke at and learn from. That is leadership, thank you!

Please send updates and know C. that you are not alone with this puzzle.

I am here for you,

Babs

You can find out more about the Courageous Leaders Project and my work as a facilitator and coach at courageousleaders.ca.

* I have no idea if turning a Rubik’s Cube around is how one solves the puzzle. But I’m counting on you readers to get my drift.

** I am very much into psychological safety and was thrilled this year to earn a Master Certificate in Mental Health and Psychological Safety at Work and so yes, it is does pop up a fair amount in my work and writing.

Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash

I am grateful for your letters and that so many honest and courageous people share their leadership stories with me to share with others. Unfortunately, it is not possible to share all of your letters and stories in this newsletter.

Please note that if you are experiencing a situation that is unsafe, if you are in crisis, or if you are struggling with trauma, that you deserve and need more than I am qualified to give. When it is right for you, please reach out to whoever you trust to get help, your workplace employee assistance program, or a medical or counselling professional.