How to Make Your Last 100 Days as Impactful As The First
Patricia Armstrong OBE, Chief Executive at ACOSVO offers some tips to consider for leaving well when the time is right to move on.
With over half the leaders responding to our recent survey saying they are planning to leave their roles in the next 5 years, (and 71% of this group looking to leave in less than 2), good succession planning is further up the agenda than ever before.
As I move through my own succession journey, I wanted to share some of my thinking along the way so I’ve have put together a list of “top tips” of things to consider in the last 100 days in post.
So many of the tips listed below came from others, but in ACOSVO’s ethos of sharing good practice and peer support, I wanted to share a bit of my learning from my last 100 days (so far) in post after almost 18 years at the helm of this amazing organisation.
There seems to be lots of support for those in their first 100 days and I would argue that its as important (if not more so personally), to have as much support in the last 100.
So, top tips for those heading to new adventures (and for the organisations they will be moving on from):
1. Find Your “tribe”: I’ve gained hugely from peers who have gone through this journey before me. Having a sounding board can be incredibly helpful when having a wobble or just time out to think with trusted colleagues. It’s also important to have colleagues at the same stage to go through the journey with. The importance of not feeling along is as pertinent at this stage of the journey as it is at the start.
2. Support Your Team: Whether a sigh of relief or a worry about what’s next, don’t underestimate the impact the pending change at the top will have with your team.
3. Change Versus Stability: There is a tendency to feel you need to “fix” everything before you go. We want to leave things “in a good place”, but knowing your successor will want to make their mark, think carefully about how much change to make happen before you go, and how much to leave to the next person.
4. Networks: Whether you want to disappear to travel the world or head off to another role, think carefully about your networks. Who do you not want to lose as a contact and how best to keep in touch.
5. Recruiting Successor: How should you be involved in recruiting your successor. I heard a spectrum of options from “once you hand in your notice its not your problem” to others who had sat alongside the board to give input on candidates and developing the job pack along the way. Work out what’s right for you and your organisation.
6. Managing Your Ego: No one is indispensable, and no-one else cares about this as much as you do. It’s important to understand this, but also to start to think about how it will feel not to be a CEO if you are not moving to another role. For many of us in the sector, we put all of ourselves into the role and its also important to think about dis-entangling and how you see yourself outside the role.
7. Future Plans: Once you hand in your notice, it’s a bit like a machine starts around you to make the process happen – and things get very busy. You’ve probably done a fair bit of thinking in advance, but make sure you find space to focus on what future you envisage and what post role plans you need to put into place at the same time.
8. Prepping to Go: Think about what you are most proud of, memorable moments etc. Take time to celebrate them. Develop a handover plan – identify “hotspots” for the person coming into the role. Think about what sits in your head – what intel do you need to share before you go – does it need to be written up? If you’ve been in the role a while, what’s the organisational history that may be lost. Again, does this need to be recorded?
9. Final Project: Do you want to go out with a bang? Is there a final project you want to complete in this period, do you have time? Think carefully about this one – which may lead to the next point.
10. Stay Motivated: It could be easy to say “nothing matters now”, someone else will pick it up once I’m gone. Think about making the last 100 days impactful and what would make it feel like you are leaving things “in a good place” and with a job well done will keep you focused.
11. Go Gracefully: No one needs you hanging about making things difficult for your successor. There are good arguments for handover periods and it can be tempting to keep a foot in the door. Tread carefully and work out what’s best for both you and the organisation.
12. Emotional Impact: Linking to the point on ego, don’t underestimate the emotional impact the change could have. Leaving trusted colleagues you have worked with over the years and often helped over the years see progress in their own journeys, the potential of losing networks you have built up over the years, and moving on from being a respected and trusted leader, all take careful consideration. This could be lost along the way as the focus is on getting the organisation in the best shape for your move. We’re only human after all!
With big thanks to all who are supporting me in this stage of my ACOSVO journey.
