Succession Planning for All Positions

0:05 all right let's get started welcome everybody here at Visionality's Building
0:10 Forward where we cover a big meaty topic in 25 minutes or less so I'm gonna set
0:18 my timer for 25 minutes ... I'm so excited to have our guest star
0:24 today Kathy O'Dell she's the CEO of Women's Economic Ventures, WEV and
0:30 Kathy I want to take just a minute to brag about you ... if that's okay so I ... Visionality is
0:38 a WEV business I... I'm sure that I would have eventually started this company and it probably
0:45 would have been successful and absolutely not negotiable WEV has been
0:51 my partner for 13 years they have been with me every step through every
0:56 different phase of my company from you know oh my God what am I doing
1:02 it's just me to hiring my first employee and to now growing a firm
1:09 ... so I just want to shout out to WEV they're incredible um
1:15 Kathy we're talking today about secession planning and whenever I'm in
1:23 the community and talking about it I talk about you and ... I say that I've never seen it done
1:30 better than the way that you did it you and Marsha did it on the board at WEV
1:36 and so I'm just so grateful that you are here with us to share
1:41 what is it what did it look like what worked great what might you do differently next time all those things
1:48 so thank you so much for being here and talk to me about succession planning
1:54 okay ... now I do want to talk about wave yes
2:00 let's start right but well but I actually don't want to start there okay and there's a reason that I that I don't
2:06 want to start there and it's because ... I think that that most people and you
2:15 and I talked about this when we were talking about the topic when you say succession planning
2:20 ... it sort of makes us think about ascending to the throne it's it's some
2:25 process secret society stuff you know the the board of directors retires to
2:32 the boardroom and hires management recruiters and you know all of that and
2:37 then at some point white smoke emerges and you know you know you have a new a new CEO
2:44 ... and seriously that is how it is done in a lot of Corporations and I
2:51 personally participated in something that was done like that ... I was on the board of Pacific Capital
2:57 Bank or ... Santa Barbara Bank and Trust to many of you ... and
3:03 ... we are then CEO was declining in health and we knew we needed a new CEO
3:10 so there was a committee formed of the board and we had private meetings and
3:16 they were all very confidential and we hired a big you know consulting firm to
3:21 go out and Survey the candidates and we used words like they needed to be
3:27 strategic and they needed to you know have emotional intelligence and they needed to do this and and of course if
3:35 you put out those kind of characteristics you can get back about 350
3:40 ... the resumes where somebody says oh yeah I got that and the the thing but the thing was is
3:48 that we were like a little Committee of of 10 people and we spent hours and hours and hours and hours on it
3:55 and and we asked a lot of questions that frankly in retrospect
4:02 weren't very forward-looking and because the company had always been
4:09 very stable we didn't ask any questions about what would happen if this crisis
4:15 occurred make up a crisis but make up a crisis and and and and so we were we we
4:23 judge the whole thing from kind of like
4:29 how do we replace the person that that's
4:34 really and it was entirely the wrong way to
4:39 approach it because the person that was leaving was the last of an old guard that had that that had grown up in a
4:47 banking environment that existed for the last 50 years and the world was changing
4:56 ... you know most of the people who sat on the board with me still went to the bank
5:01 and deposited their check they didn't know what an ATM was ... and and so we we didn't ask and we
5:09 didn't look at the storm clouds Brewing around the prime mortgage thing so the person we selected
5:16 very unfortunately we said we think we love this person we know that he can grow into this role but he wasn't there
5:23 yet yeah and then he got slammed against the wall
5:29 by everything and and and what it brought back to me
5:34 was are you asking the right questions does everybody in the room have the same idea
5:42 Define vision Define what you mean by priorities and strategic Define that this and and you
5:51 know it turned out we were close but not exactly right on ... and so I think that that
5:59 you know it like if I ask anybody up there ... I'm not in the audience you know yeah
6:07 ... do you you know ... do you have a succession plan
6:13 I bet prior to seeing this webinar they would probably say I don't know I
6:19 don't think so ... but if I said to you
6:25 do you have a leadership development program to identify potentially promotable employees for all positions
6:30 in your organization I'm betting to answer my PS okay
6:37 so then my answer is you do have a succession plan it's just incomplete
6:43 [Music] and and and and and it's interesting to
6:48 me that we don't think it's mystical or strange or you know highly charged if
6:54 you're saying well what do I do to replace my CFO if I leave we think that's an that's a
7:01 normal course of business and I believe all succession planning should be a normal course of business
7:06 there is in my drawer maybe not doing this but in my drawer
7:13 there is a chart of every senior leader in our organization
7:20 and people that report to them and people in other organ other sides of our organization that says
7:28 if something changes this person's position or availability to us or you
7:34 know whatever is there is there a ready successor
7:39 is there a yeah is there somebody else in the organization that you could just pick up
7:44 and go oh yeah I know your role was in programs but we think you can you know
7:49 actually you know take over this so it's it's it it's there and very bluntly when
7:57 you have a small non-profit like we do like you do oftentimes we look at the at the chart
8:02 and we say ... no no I mean we've got somebody who
8:09 might be trained to move into that position and if that's the case then we better
8:15 start to develop a training plan if you know put it in place now you know
8:22 ... and if there's nobody then then the backup plan is more
8:29 ... okay make sure your job description is up to date ask yourself
8:35 constantly what's changing yes that that is that is something that the
8:41 organization should be doing anyway on a very regular basis is is okay this is
8:46 what we thought was happening in the big outside world is that what's really happening okay has it changed has there
8:53 been competition has there been a shift in funding you know all nonprofits are
8:58 asking themselves this at the moment is our funders have shifted what do they
9:04 want well you know are we meeting their needs what what's you know going on
9:11 ... and and so you know our our third category is there is nobody we will need
9:17 to hire from outside that could be a long process in this market therefore
9:25 know who inside your organization can pick up pieces yes go and figure out where you have a
9:33 Consulting resource that could step in on an interim basis
9:39 ... and and and look at how you make certain that even if it isn't ideal yeah
9:47 you're going to manage through it yeah we saw
9:53 it it took us a minute because we had to grow big enough to allow this to be a
9:58 reality but but now that we are a small But Mighty team of nine we can have two
10:06 people in every role two people on every client two people doing internal
10:13 operations so there is that consistency you know if we I like to say
10:20 when someone wins the lottery right someone wants the lottery and we'll we'll shoot I'm gonna put Delaney on the
10:27 spot she's here we had an employee who had a baby and ... Delaney was one of our outside
10:33 Consultants who stepped in and supported us when things got crazy on events and
10:38 we were lucky enough to get her to move internal to cover while Taryn was out
10:44 having a baby and and it like it it is that external resource who can
10:51 who can cover and and it might not be exactly within the organization it might
10:56 be a Consulting resource it might be you know ... I know like right now we we hired a
11:05 ... a consultant part-time consultant to do some upgrading of our financial
11:10 systems yeah the person is excellent excellent we're really happy with the choice of this
11:16 consultant and they're digging into two books and working with our grant director to understand how our grants
11:23 work but and whatever and so also looking at some compliance things or something well
11:29 the other day our grant director told us that she has a health problem yeah okay
11:34 ... we didn't see it coming yeah and and this is is is only hopefully going to be
11:40 minor but there is a potential that there might be something here that would be that would be several months well we
11:46 can't go without yeah and so now we're looking and saying okay we could up the hours for that consultant you know from
11:54 yptc we can pull someone out of our compliance function and have them you
12:00 know step into grants Nikki and I can take over some of the grant writing all
12:05 right so that's the game plan you know we that we can fill in but I think that that
12:12 again if we stop saying succession like it's this mysterious magical word and we
12:19 say leadership continuity then you start approaching all of the
12:25 best practices that you need to have inside an organization to make sure that
12:30 you're that super great wonderful you know beneficial machine serving your
12:37 community you know and and it makes it it makes it a little less daunting not
12:44 necessarily less daunting to find the right people but it but but again if if you're living
12:52 your life in preparation for tomorrow's challenge you got a better chance of succeeding at
13:01 it [Music] so you know I mean that's and and I... In
13:06 the handouts you know I put down some of the things about you know the obvious
13:12 you know that well-run organizations make continuity planning and leadership development a top priority at all times
13:19 okay and and you identify High performers that are capable of meeting
13:24 present and future needs and you invest in the development of skills and abilities
13:30 ... and you use that to show both your board and your funders
13:35 that ... that you're you're capable of response resilience yeah
13:42 well and it's so interesting ... because I
13:48 it can be scary as a leader to do future planning because you're kind of
13:55 saying you're you're setting it up for something to exist without you which can
14:01 be scary and you know make us feel maybe like we're not magical or not important
14:06 or whatever but I think it it goes back to we're building organizations right
14:11 and and you are leading this organization now but truly we're tasked
14:18 with building a a thing and the success measurement is can the things survive
14:24 without me without you and that's success
14:30 well and and and and you know that's one kind of thing I mean again in that great
14:37 article from Stanford Innovation they deal with all kinds of founder departures and and I'm you know like in
14:44 my case I'm not a Founder but but like it you know it Founders are often the
14:50 toughest ones and so when you and you get inside a non-profit
14:55 ... and a lot of non-profits there's Founders and they've been there for 10 20. 30 years okay and so they think of
15:06 the organization as their baby yes ... I mean you know like I said to you before the the guests
15:14 got on is ... is the most daunting thing about trying to follow Marcia Bailey is Marcia
15:21 Bailey is WEV she is I mean the the name Marsha Bailey you your brain clicks
15:28 and says we've yeah okay and and so it it actually for many many
15:35 many years Bros are bored they never looked at succession planes I absolutely never
15:41 looked at it it's like this is Marsha's organization and she'll take you to the Grave with her
15:47 ... you know for for somebody like me it's a little bit different
15:52 ... we are looking at succession planning because as anybody can tell by this
15:57 white hair I'm not exactly a spring chicken and the you know so you know and
16:04 and as much as I love love love working ... I know that someday I should quit or
16:11 slow down or do something differently but
16:16 ... you know I think Vanessa said something you know very ... wonderful and authentic ... when when
16:23 she and Jack were doing the session is she said well I brought Jeff in and then all of a sudden I started going well
16:29 wait a minute what's my role what do I do you know well yeah and Nikki one day said to me well
16:37 when are you going to retire and I went wait a minute
16:44 ... you know and and the answer is no of course not but but we are committed to
16:52 finding a more ... gradual path yeah and to looking at
17:00 ... how do we not lose the value ... it it bluntly when when I took over
17:07 for Marcia she was the happiest person in the world and she said it's yours goodbye
17:15 wait a minute you know that may be a few things I need to know and and
17:20 fortunately I've been on the board and I knew some things and I you know been around and and I'd run companies before
17:27 so yeah but but like with Nikki and I... It is more of a seamless thing because
17:33 there's very little that I know that she doesn't know as a
17:39 matter of fact I'm not sure that I'm sure there's stuff that she knows that I don't know I'm absolutely positive of
17:44 that one because she's probably running more stuff I went oh didn't know you were doing
17:51 that one okay cool it wasn't the priorities yeah I got it all right
17:57 but ... but the but I think that
18:02 and I do want to emphasize ... in saying that I am a firm believer
18:10 in continuity leadership planning forever is in your position I... I you know we don't take it all the
18:17 way down to a program assistant we do make some assumptions that that job can
18:23 be learned and if it switches out we're going to bring in another great
18:28 wonderful wavy to handle it but you know it doesn't need an extensive plan
18:35 ... and so but the plan for replacing a
18:42 director of programs is certainly different than the planning
18:47 you ought to do for your CEO position ... because while I think there are close
18:55 to zero and should be totally zero organizations that are run anymore in
19:01 the command and control style of a you know CEO yes let's wipe them off the
19:07 face of the Earth ... it's still true that the that the CEO is in charge of vision culture
19:15 ... strategy and execution of mission yes and and financial viability and at the
19:21 end of the day the buck does stop here okay so it makes sense that the board's
19:27 going to be heavily focused on continuity planning for the CEO position
19:33 ... and and it should be reviewed at least annually
19:38 ... and we do ... probably that will get more intense
19:44 over the next couple of years as we try to figure out when I might yeah and then Sunset but spoiler alert
19:53 my guess is less than 30 percent of boards do that I yeah maybe overestimating I would be
20:00 shocked if it was that much well and we're also graduating from this culture
20:05 in non-profit land which is Administration is bad like you should
20:11 have no overhead as an organization and guess what like leadership continuity
20:18 planning is Administrative overhead like we and and we're building out of that
20:25 concept gradually but this is
20:30 a big investment that organizations need to continually do and it needs to show
20:37 up in their budgets and they need to make staff time available to do this because it's
20:43 it it must be done to make sure that the organization exists in five years
20:49 you don't want to get me started on the fact that a non-profit is a business oh
20:54 girl oh my goodness it should be run like one thank you
21:01 thank you thank you so I well and it's so interesting non-pro let's start here
21:07 non-profits are a business thank you very much they manufacture social change and they sell it to their donors great
21:14 thank you for attending my ... Ted talk but
21:19 but they are different from businesses in the sense that when you found an
21:27 organization a non-profit it's because you have to create some
21:33 kind of change in the world like your soul will not be at rest until you see
21:39 something different not very few are Business Leaders who
21:45 say I'm gonna create a business that manufactures social change and so I am
21:50 curious since you've been through a number of um
21:56 of leadership changes if it felt different when it was a for-profit
22:03 company versus a non-profit and you're coming in replacing the founder
22:10 ... you know I may not be the best person to ask that question of because both of my
22:18 previous medical device companies I was the founder and to us they were kind of social
22:25 change because we were manufacturing equipment that really changed the
22:31 outcome for for patients and so there it yeah it was for-profit but
22:39 but but we wanted things to be done right and and of course because it they
22:45 were my babies that you know I helped build up when I
22:50 started to think about what you know ... and one of them I left very voluntarily
22:56 I planned it out I begged it and I dug my way out with my fingernails because I was tired of you know what it had become
23:03 after we got purchased ... the other one was we weren't hitting
23:09 our growth goals that the Venture capitalists wanted to see and we were hit hit 2008 Great Recession and they
23:18 said guess what there's not as much money so you're gonna cut 60 of your operating costs or we'll shut you down
23:24 and I'm like oh okay we need some plans ... and so we got out of it but but when
23:31 it came to when it came to the bank it was more corporate that much more corporate
23:39 ... okay and it because the the founder had long been gone so there were just a
23:44 rotation of CEOs and and again but but not like it is in a lot of corporate
23:51 America where there could be a turnover every five years or something wasn't like that coaching WEV was very different
23:58 ... so now we'll get to the wave story okay the the the the the so again for marsh had been running the
24:06 organization for 29 years at the point in time when she said I'm retiring I've
24:12 told you guys this before I am serious it's happening yeah it's happening go go
24:17 make a plan go do something ... but but it but interestingly enough
24:22 she didn't say here's my plan she said go do it go make a plan
24:27 so we formed a a subcommittee of the board and at you know to talk about doing a
24:35 CEO search because we looked around the organization and there wasn't there was no one ... that wasn't the way that we had been
24:42 built in the past it you know and so ... and at the first meeting everybody
24:48 started throwing names on the table well there's this great person who heads this CEO you know of our CEO of a nonprofit
24:55 over in Arizona and I met her at a conference and you know I think this is somebody that we ought to talk to and
25:01 this and that and and you know and it was like
25:06 oh wait a minute what is it we're trying to do there what
25:11 are we even doing yeah why don't we even do and the interesting thing was even
25:17 though everybody in the room had been associated with WEV for a
25:23 minimum of three years and some longer when we actually started talking about
25:29 it and you know I'm going time out ... you it
25:35 we've been talking at our executive sessions of the board for a number of years now
25:41 that ... WEV is not living up to its potential that we have not grown in it
25:48 that ... we are not that full disclosure entrepreneurial enough our inside
25:55 operations were the least entrepreneurial thing I've ever seen in my life whoa and and we are teaching
26:02 entrepreneurs now the curriculum was fine a little needed brushing up which we've
26:07 done but but but literally you know I was like well why is it this way when we
26:14 started digging into this and Marsha and I were friends and I'd go out to coffee with her and I'd say why is it this way
26:19 and she said I'm an advocate I'm not a business person well exactly
26:26 and and and she's like I don't know how to do that you know she says I see a grant and I go
26:34 oh yeah we can fulfill that Grant we can deliver those Services we can you know
26:39 we can get women into into their businesses what's an org chart yes
26:46 ... it you know and as I'm like aha okay all right
26:53 ... and and so you know when we started talking about it
26:59 ... at the at the board and we started asking the questions about our strategic
27:05 strategic Direction and full disclosure we didn't have a strategy plan
27:11 ... if the print culture of the organization would support growth it wouldn't
27:19 ... and you know what would it take to move from where we were at to where we wanted to go
27:26 or more correctly all the places we wanted to go and
27:32 ... so you know what it revealed was that ... there were
27:40 a lot of challenges to this and so everybody started looking at me and saying well you've grown companies
27:46 how does this happen and so I'd start talking about the challenges of breaking
27:52 out of the original plan and and growing to be better able to achieve the mission and and yet keeping the passion and
27:59 dedication that you had is that scrappy little startup yeah because in my
28:04 previous life it was you want the energy of that startup you you never want that
28:10 to go away even if you've got 500 people in the organization and it's tough and
28:15 you want but you want the stability yes how do you maintain how do you add the
28:21 stability but maintain the the culture and the essence and the yeah and the willingness
28:30 or whatever and one of the real ... challenges
28:36 it is that if you've got an organization of five people you can kind of run it by
28:41 talking to one another if you've got an organization of 24 to 48 people you need some systems and
28:47 processes ... you need all kinds of of things and
28:53 you know so the good thing was is that all of the
28:59 directors that were part of this finding a new CEO process we're all dedicated to
29:05 WEV's Mission and service to the community and and we just knew that we wanted it to be different but for a lot
29:11 of people in the room they couldn't articulate it and so one night several weeks into our
29:17 planning over some appetizers and a little bit of wine perfect one of the directors said okay I
29:26 got it we're looking for a change management person and I don't think that person
29:31 needs to come from non-profit I nominate Kathy and I went
29:37 excuse me I... I I've never run a non-profit ... wait
29:44 a minute yes I have but not on purpose yeah yes yes yes yes
29:50 so so at any rate I and and I didn't say yes right away because I was really
29:57 concerned about this okay I'm gonna come in and take over from Marsha and I'm not even a
30:03 non-profit leader and everybody's gonna look at me and say how the hell is she gonna do that and and then the more I talk to Marcia
30:10 and the more I talk to the board who who I... I guess the one of the the good things was that the board may not have
30:17 understood exactly what they wanted to happen in strategy and exactly what they did but they had confidence that that I
30:24 love the organization and that I was going to figure it out yeah that you would handle it with care yeah and and
30:31 so you know so we did in the end pay
30:36 attention to all the critical steps in the process we didn't just throw out names we spent time hashing out what we meant
30:44 by strategy and vision and priorities which did we go after first there were tons of things we
30:51 wanted to do but what was the most important thing to do and Lauren will know that it was expand our programs and
30:59 be able to deliver them online ... you know turn our culture into a more
31:07 entrepreneurial culture yeah and access to Capital
31:12 ... and and so after about six eight months of study that's what and Nikki
31:18 helped with this she was you know standing by my side trying to lead me through you know how understanding more
31:25 about the inner workings of wave because she had been there about a year and a half at that time
31:32 ... and ... and so you know we figured it out
31:39 ... and then we took it back out to the board and said does this seem what where we we should be going and we tested it
31:45 on a couple of people like you and you know and and so I you know I
31:51 think that that it in a way I was kind of an Insider I
31:59 certainly wasn't an employee but I was an Insider ... you will see when you read that
32:04 article from Stanford social Innovation services that ... it is preferable to have an internal
32:12 succession so one of the other commitments I made to the board
32:18 before I said yes is we will have a succession plan Louis will have one for all the senior
32:26 positions in our organization ... and
32:31 you know it's it's a little more complicated post covid but there is
32:38 I ... can't believe I'm saying this but we have done our 25 minutes that we
32:45 committed to so I want to encourage people ... put your questions in the chat use
32:52 that raise your hand function if you want to come on camera and talk to Kathy about this
32:58 ... what I heard let me
33:05 we always like to ask the question how do we sell this to our board right because we we're with non-profits we
33:13 need the board to approach approve things like this and we already said this is an investment it's ongoing it
33:21 takes time it takes resources ... how do we sell this to our board
33:30 ... you know that one hasn't been
33:36 ... a problem in our instance which is why my brain is thinking
33:41 ... and I'm one of those people that I talk while I'm thinking so wait a minute and I'll get there
33:47 ... the ... it you know the the and and maybe it's also because for our board
33:54 this is still pretty new I... I mean you know we just went through this process in 2019.
34:01 ... and they they they understand that it needs to happen and you know when I made
34:07 the deal we knew it wasn't another 30 years right you know that it was going
34:12 to be you know five seven something you know ... and and so I don't have so much a
34:20 problem with the board the harder problem for me and boy this applies to everything in
34:27 non-profit funding is how the hell do you sell it to the people who write the grants because you you need money and this is
34:35 unrestricted dollars okay this is not program dollars and and so it's like if
34:43 they don't get all of this if they just think oh well yeah I mean there's no cost to
34:50 hired a new CEO just oh maybe a recruiter fee or something yeah go go
34:56 out and do it and and you know and oh yes we want you to have capable
35:02 competent people in your senior positions but you should just be able to find them
35:08 you don't need to keep developing them what's the problem or yeah we love it that you keep developing them we're not
35:15 going to pay for it but we love it and it you know and and I so I think that
35:21 that's probably a really big question Emily that that has to do with
35:26 the structural changes that are necessary in the world of philanthropy to to get funders to understand
35:34 that running an organization does take administrative oversight and you know
35:40 General operating expenses that don't that aren't tied to I just delivered the
35:48 imprintamental course to 35 people yes
35:54 yes but if you solve that one I want to know you I better be first on your list I
36:00 mean it is board education right it is Community Education like
36:06 this it is US shouting from the rooftops that non-profits are businesses
36:13 ... non-profit is not a business model it is a tax a legal tax definition
36:21 ... I don't know Jeffrey dropped off where
36:26 is he when we meet him he chatted me he said he had a 10 10 30
36:32 but yeah we could really use that guy right now to answer this question yeah well I'm I am actually curious
36:39 we've got some pretty great people on does does anyone in the group have ideas
36:45 or have you successfully sold this kind of investment to your
36:51 board or have you seen it done because it really it is a long
36:57 process and it costs money the other thing
37:02 that ... is has been really hard for me and I... Imagine is hard just in general is
37:10 to be to properly do this continuity planning you can't be operating at full
37:18 capacity like if everyone in your organization is utilized at 100 percent
37:23 if even if you're doing this this cross-training if someone drops off no
37:30 one has the bandwidth to pick up any extra slack even if they know what what the job is how to do it if you're if
37:37 everyone is at capacity there is no bandwidth
37:44 ... okay so so what I hear or heard in that question is less about doing the
37:50 the planning the planning part of it is ... you know it really should be
37:58 compartmentalized to certain ... management Retreats mining sessions
38:03 or stuff like that where it gets tricky is a situation like I was describing if
38:10 if this employee of ours does have a more extended health problem okay we're
38:16 sitting looking at the fact that we can find a little bit of bandwidth inside to
38:21 cover one or two of the tasks but we don't have enough bandwidth to cover them all we we just don't and and so you
38:30 know that is then going to say okay it's going to take time to step back and say how do we cover them all who are we
38:38 going to bring in and and and it did dump a task back on to the lapse of a
38:45 couple of us to say okay that person that we've been talking about about maybe using on a contract basis we need
38:53 to talk more to her we need we need to find out if she would be a good interim
39:00 for two months you know yeah and then it does take time
39:05 yeah yeah because I... I I've got two employees I just see I scrolled through to see who
39:12 else was here so I've got two people from the organization who are two of my colleagues who are on this call and I
39:18 know that they will both shake their heads and say there is zero bandwidth laughs yeah yeah
39:26 so is there what's like I think in in closing like
39:33 let's let's say we're starting from zero like what's the
39:38 right first step ... you know I... I think that that the
39:46 right first step is those you know things that that we said about I don't want to get my list back up here but but
39:53 but it's it's what are best practices for an organization in general okay and
39:58 and actually as a startup executive I will tell you we always did this when we
40:04 started we had all these this is best practices and this is how we're going to run our company ... yeah right well most of the time you
40:13 know then you get busy and you go oh yeah I think we forgot to do that one but but
40:20 that I think are so important to just kind of like embed inside your psyche in
40:26 your head is is that ... that your organization
40:33 exists to deliver on its mission okay and in order to deliver on its Mission
40:40 you have identified a set of Human Resources who are
40:45 critical to that delivery and if you're doing it right
40:51 well you have just what you need you don't have more than you need because
40:57 non-profits can never afford that you know and hopefully you don't have too much less than you need because then
41:04 you just stress yourself out yeah but you make
41:10 continuity planning and Leadership development a top priority at all levels
41:16 you are always scanning you're like a pilot scanning The Horizon does everything look okay today how is that
41:23 person feeling you know the the other kids sick are they you know what's going
41:29 on and and you it and and you watch what people do so
41:37 it's not just a matter of walking by and saying you did a great job on that Lauren
41:43 then going and saying did you note that skill that you used to do that how does
41:50 that fit into the organization in other places [Music] you know we just did some shifts inside
41:58 our organization we had you know a couple people that have skill sets that we didn't think were being utilized as
42:04 well as they could be in their role positions and we moved them yeah we move
42:09 them to be bigger contributors to a new to a different department and we don't
42:15 know yet how it's gonna work out but but we believe that that was a smart move because we saw that there were things
42:22 that they could contribute and that they were underutilized ... you know we we constantly look for
42:31 funding and for people who are sympathetic to understand that we need
42:37 to pay money to develop skills and abilities ... and that we have to prepare
42:43 candidates for future advancement now one of the other things that that
42:48 sometimes I think it becomes a problem for us and we have to accept it in ... is
42:54 well-run non-profits are staffed by a really passionate dedicated people
43:01 little turnover which means if you're doing a really good job of growing your people in a
43:09 of lifting them up you will lose some you will lose ones that will say
43:16 there's another opportunity in as much as I love being a WEV-y you know I'm
43:22 gonna go do it and that is okay it's a success and like we we hate we I
43:30 hate losing people because I hire the best people and I want them to stay
43:36 around because they're great and they're talented and they're fun and I just want
43:42 them to stick around but you want to know what Kathy my biggest success this
43:47 week is that Cecily a Visionality graduate and alumna of our organization
43:53 is in DC lobbying Congress to get more funding for her non-profit organization
44:01 that is my biggest success because my alumna is changing the world and so I... I
44:09 think I think the big thing I'm taking away is that the the first thing to do is shift your
44:16 mindset succession planning or continuity planning must be part of
44:21 every day it's part of right it's not a thing you do in check a box it's part of your ongoing business processes and it
44:29 needs to be a mindset shift from Bad losing people is bad
44:36 turnover is bad it is bad it's expensive but but it it's part of life it happens
44:42 and so you know shifting that mindset to it's a graduation you know it's
44:47 something to be celebrated and it's and and the the skills and opportunity and
44:54 ... Integrity that you've instilled in your team now they get to go spread that
45:04 around which is like really beautiful yeah yeah
45:09 it is I mean we're all here to make the world a better place so making individuals
45:16 you know more capable at doing what they want to do and and contributing is just
45:22 yeah it should be a no-brainer no questions yeah I love it well thank you
45:28 so much for your time this was wonderful you continue to be an inspiration I'm
45:33 grateful for you Kathy so thanks for being here
45:39 okay take care everyone good morning everybody bye