A lot of organizations are undergoing transitions in their top leadership these days. The new person who comes in would be wise to develop a relationship with the departing person and consider a strategy on how the two will work in concert.
I have seen organizations do a poor job of honoring the past leader, with the new president acting as if he was the first to ever hold the post; ignoring the wealth of knowledge and context that the previous chief could provide. I have also seen strong partnerships where the president emerita was visible and engaged, but also clearly aware of who could do the decision making.
At my institution, the past president took a year-long sabbatical to Ireland when our new leader started. The current president described it as "generous" for the past president to go away, leaving her, as the new president, free to make her own mark without perceived influence to do it how it had been done. At other schools, the past president remains without having a clear demarcation of the transition. It is not always a smooth course.
Even though the past president may no longer have positional power, they still carry a tremendous amount of influential currency. The new leader needs to acknowledge that others in the institution or on the board may have allegiance to the departed leader, and take care to honor their work and legacy, even while forging a new direction and making changes.
The emphasis is usually only on the transition into an organization. It is a smart strategy to also consider orchestrating the transitions out and after.
-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
Thanks to Joanne for insight on this topic
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