Latest / Authentic Living / The Goldilocks Dilemma in Senior Leadership (Part II) with Oliver Johnston
Transcript
- 0:01Welcome to authentic living with Roxanne, a place where we have as conversations about
- 0:08things that really matter in our lives.
- 0:11And now here's your host, Roxanne Derhodge.
- 0:35Interview last week was so good that we decided to turn it into a 2 part series.
- 0:40If you missed last week, you'll find the link in the show notes.
- 0:45It's not mandatory that you listen, but we wanna make sure that you don't miss out on this
- 0:50amazing conversation.
- 0:53Hi, everyone.
- 0:53It's, Roxanne Derhodge.
- 0:55Thanks for tuning in again this week.
- 0:57Today, I have a special new colleague and, Oliver, and I just, are are part of a new
- 1:05mastermind, which I feel very, very privileged to be involved with.
- 1:10And Oliver is has done some fascinating work.
- 1:15He's been in the field of leadership.
- 1:17I'm gonna say leadership consulting well over.
- 1:20We don't wanna date you no longer, but over 25, 30 years.
- 1:24And, he's I'm gonna say focusing on an area that, we're seeing a lot more of, lately in the
- 1:32business consulting world, which is stepping out from the top.
- 1:36Where senior leaders kinda are finding that next step about.
- 1:40So now what?
- 1:42I've I've worked very hard.
- 1:44I've I've create the space of maybe starting a legacy with the company that I'm with.
- 1:52And so, like now, what do we do?
- 1:54So, Oliver, thanks so much for coming in today to chat with us.
- 1:58My pleasure, Roxanne.
- 2:00It is Carrie.
- 2:01Right?
- 2:01So it's about embracing that and even me now I couldn't be 57 in January.
- 2:07And then I'm talking about all these things that I wanna do, but I find my some of my
- 2:13people around me, maybe not people in the same kind of roles are thinking about slowing down.
- 2:18And I'm like, oh my goodness.
- 2:20I have this and this and this to do.
- 2:22You're having diff it's like you're having, like, what like you said, you're right.
- 2:25Arrivals with departures and nothing against people that want you know, to to slow down.
- 2:31But sometimes you you have to find the right groups to be able to have those conversations
- 2:36because you know what?
- 2:37If you wanna stop completely at 55.
- 2:39That's fantastic.
- 2:41But what are you gonna do with that time if you do decide to retire?
- 2:45And if you are going to continue, how is it that you tap into, to your point, that last
- 2:51golden blue hairs, right,
- 2:54Yeah.
- 2:55And and the rules of the game have broken down.
- 3:00Thank goodness.
- 3:01I mean, in terms of retirement, Retirement is a relevant new concept that was introduced in
- 3:07Germany in 1881.
- 3:10At that stage, the retirement age was set at 70.
- 3:14But the life expectancy was much less than that.
- 3:18Right?
- 3:19So most people died anyway before they ever got to that.
- 3:22In the United States, the the retirement age was set at 65.
- 3:33And at that stage, life expectancy was 58.
- 3:37So again, in the US, was done we create this retirement, but we expect very, very few people
- 3:42to get there.
- 3:43The retirement dates has sort of stuck around 60, 65.
- 3:48Now as a as a recognized, I know people will do it differently, but that and yet we're living
- 3:53to 90 plus.
- 3:54So the whole thing is broken down.
- 3:56And if you look at the the the old career model of education career retirement, That if you
- 4:05look at the bit between career and retirement, there's now a bit which is post the main role
- 4:14that you've had and retiring, which is stopping work, and that can go on for 20 years.
- 4:19I'm part of that.
- 4:20I mean, I've been in there for 10 years and tend to go on for quite a while longer.
- 4:24So we do really need to rethink this both as a society, but also each of us individually and
- 4:31go, if I It's why I use the word step of the term stepping out rather than retiring because
- 4:37you step out from the the role you're doing, and you're and I you're either gonna retire And
- 4:42what does that mean?
- 4:43Cause there's retiring and still working, retiring to a very rich leisure life, retiring
- 4:48to whatever, or I'm gonna still I'm gonna keep working.
- 4:51But I'm gonna work less and whatever.
- 4:53So it's an area that that we don't have the concepts and the words yet familiar to help
- 5:00help people think it through what it really means.
- 5:03So let's let's, you know, in your the report, that that, you're putting out.
- 5:09It talked about companies really getting prepared.
- 5:15And there was some data that came from that.
- 5:17So let's talk about some of the companies that you have been have worked with or that you know
- 5:22of that have done it well.
- 5:25For that middle subset.
- 5:26And what kind of things are they putting in place, or maybe what are they, what are kind of
- 5:33the things that they're recognizing they need to implement, and they're starting to, and what
- 5:38is still a struggle with with the with the companies to work with?
- 5:43I mean, I think if if we stand back and take it from an organizational through look at it
- 5:48through an organizational lands and quite a long term lens.
- 5:53There's plenty of evidence that even large companies and and many successful companies
- 5:59still view, for example, a change in the chief executive or a change in the chief finance
- 6:04officer attains them without they treat them as one off events.
- 6:08Well, they're actually part of an ongoing process of of people leaving and people
- 6:13starting.
- 6:14K?
- 6:16And and Again, there's pretty good evidence that it's one of the most important things that
- 6:22happens in an organization to change a more of a senior executive affect share price
- 6:29reputation, buy in from employees, etcetera, etcetera.
- 6:35And And and if we get and I think it's it's between 28 and 38% I think it is of senior
- 6:48level transitions or disappointments.
- 6:52Either they fail completely or they don't bring what was expected.
- 6:56And when it that's huge, and and they re there there's one Harvard statistic that The impact
- 7:03of getting transitions wrong in the top of in the top companies, equates to a
- 7:09$1,000,000,000,000 a year.
- 7:13In in lost effectiveness and loss and value and whatever.
- 7:16So it's it's a, you know, it's a big thing and yet Today, I mean, and in the survey we did,
- 7:23the very great majority of organizations are not Don't have a formal approach to enabling
- 7:33their senior leaders to leave well.
- 7:36And therefore create the space for the new leaders to arrive and to do that in an
- 7:41effective and seamless way.
- 7:43And a couple of couple of implications of that.
- 7:48One is that, if you're not careful, you're if you pick successors You're ripening your
- 7:57successors to be picked by your your competitors because you get them ready to take
- 8:03over.
- 8:04But you don't manage the bit of when are people the incumbent's going to be leaving.
- 8:09So they're left hanging around, ready to go.
- 8:12And you've just ripen them for your competitor.
- 8:14Hey.
- 8:14Well, come on, work with us because we've so, you know, there's a lot of times we can be done
- 8:18that way.
- 8:19And we're proposing at the moment that succession planning.
- 8:25It needs to be redefined because at the moment, I did a Google search of 20 and definitions of
- 8:33succession planning.
- 8:34Okay.
- 8:34So from, you know, from Harvard through, a whole range of different companies or whatever.
- 8:40Everyone lived in the same.
- 8:42It was about identifying and developing your leaders to take over.
- 8:48Okay.
- 8:48Not one of them mentioned helping the senior leaders existent to exit gracefully and well.
- 8:56So it's a little bit like succession time that is is aimed at one side of the equation, and
- 9:01we're completely missing the other.
- 9:03As somebody said to me, And it's a little bit like in an athletics relay race.
- 9:09We're concentrating on all our efforts on helping the person who's gonna receive the
- 9:15button, but we're not doing anything to help the person who's actually gonna hand it over.
- 9:20So it it just it just doesn't make any sense.
- 9:22So that's why our proposition is we need to have a much more formal.
- 9:27Of thoughts through approach to this and enable people to leave well, feeling supported so they
- 9:34leave as advocates and ambassadors They make sure that succession is working right and
- 9:39whatever and then have the people who are ready to succeed prepared and ready to take over.
- 9:45So you create seamless transitions.
- 9:48Well, at the cost That's the business case.
- 9:50Yeah.
- 9:51Of course.
- 9:51But that's costing you saying it's been done.
- 9:5340 to the the amount of a $1,000,000,000,000.
- 9:56That's a lot of money.
- 9:58And if you were to address it well, like you said, and there's no one particular way to do
- 10:03it in reference to to planning.
- 10:04It depends on industry and, you know, all that's things, you know, the demographics of
- 10:10your of your teams, those types of things.
- 10:12But starting to think about it, like you said, if as much as 10 years out, which the thought
- 10:18of 10 years out, you know, that's a lot of people would be like, woah, that's that's rainy
- 10:22really soon, but with a lot of changes, that happens within companies.
- 10:27I would think of, you know, most of the, you know, when I manage my portfolio on health and
- 10:31wellness, any company was in flux 75% of my portfolio was in flux at any given point.
- 10:37Right?
- 10:38So, clearly, there's there's cost to change happening.
- 10:41So that's showing you that people need to plan.
- 10:43Well, here's Roxanne here's some of the numbers from the the the study.
- 10:49So we asked, we did, obviously, desk research, and we did a number of, 1 to 1 structured
- 10:56interviews.
- 10:57And then we surveyed 92, senior HR business partners to try and get a sense of this.
- 11:06What we learned from that is that 5% of senior leaders are rated as well equipped for life
- 11:12beyond the organization.
- 11:1595% aren't well equipped.
- 11:17Right?
- 11:18So there there is something to think about.
- 11:2023% of the organizations are rated as very supportive of their senior leaders as they they
- 11:26think and plan.
- 11:29So all the rest aren't.
- 11:31Right?
- 11:33And that not only 9% of organizations have a formal approach.
- 11:38Yeah.
- 11:3980% of more than 80% of the HR business partners said we should have a formal approach.
- 11:45So there's something not connecting here in in, you know, in that.
- 11:49And, I'm delighted with the opportunity to highlight and go think about it.
- 11:54It is, you know, it is there are big costs to not getting this right and not just financial
- 12:00costs, but reputational costs, opportunity costs, and the view of whether you're a good
- 12:06company to work for.
- 12:07All of those things are are actually affected by.
- 12:10Right.
- 12:10And what, you know, if you have the opportunity to create something that's more formal, and
- 12:15when someone leaves at the right time, you you you create champions.
- 12:19Cause if I've been with a company and I've spend the majority of my time building this
- 12:24identity of this company along with feeling very good.
- 12:28And I'm leaving on a on a good note.
- 12:30I'm gonna be the best champion and advocate.
- 12:32I've been talking about it, you know, in every different realm versus if I had a horrible
- 12:36experience, I'm I'm maybe gonna be a bit scrunolds, and I'm not gonna be saying the best
- 12:41thing.
- 12:41And we know that with social proof out there, guess what?
- 12:44That that, you know, it it does spread like wildfire when people start sharing things.
- 12:49Now, I would like you to speak to, you know, just maybe any senior executives, listening to
- 12:56this.
- 12:57And he or she's like, well, we don't even have anything.
- 13:00What where do, you know, how do I what do I do?
- 13:03I I need to support I'm scared because I haven't even thought about this or I'm running
- 13:08for my feet.
- 13:09I'm I'm there's not this is another thing to add to my to do list Oliver.
- 13:15What what would you tell them to do as some primary steps to start,
- 13:19you know, another one is I know I should be thinking about this.
- 13:23And I keep meaning to think about it, and then they don't, right, because that that's also
- 13:28very common.
- 13:32I think I think there's a numb I think there's a number of things.
- 13:36I think first of all, it's important to understand what's going on.
- 13:41Okay?
- 13:42So understand that it's transition and it's in one of the most major transitions in your life.
- 13:49And even if you hang on by your fingernails, it will eventually happen.
- 13:54Okay.
- 13:55So it's gonna happen.
- 13:56So so think about it.
- 13:58And it's multi dimensional because it can involve your identity.
- 14:03It can involve your relationships.
- 14:05It can involve your in, you know, involve your intellectual activity, your physical and
- 14:10emotional well-being, your finances, but as well as that it will change your daily routines
- 14:16in your habits.
- 14:17So this is a big thing to move through.
- 14:19And I think first of all, to understand that, Second is to understand that you have a choice.
- 14:25You can you can see it as coming into the arrivals hall, or you can see it as departing
- 14:30from the departure lines.
- 14:32That's just the choice of which way you're gonna do it.
- 14:35You can understand your finances so you really understand what you can afford.
- 14:39I I had one senior person.
- 14:41I was so life is different for everybody.
- 14:44And and she said to me, no.
- 14:45No.
- 14:45My family's in a good order, which they were.
- 14:48And she said, you know, we tend to live a pretty frugal life.
- 14:53I mean, we do have 3 resources, but when it I agree.
- 14:58That doesn't sound like a frugal life to me, but we all judge it at whatever level we're at.
- 15:03But knowing that question is enough when is it is enough enough?
- 15:08And very often, we get towards the the latter states of our One of the things that may be
- 15:13emergencies are wisdom increases.
- 15:16And we start to go, there isn't as much value to ever chasing ever more, actually settling
- 15:24for enough is enough.
- 15:25And therefore, I can I can I can live the lifestyle much more?
- 15:29So so working that out and and, you know, understanding that, and just understanding that
- 15:35sense about being fifty something if you happen to be in that, that, you know, at the top of
- 15:39your career curve, the bottom of your happiness curve, your own age's views might start to play
- 15:45out against you.
- 15:46And also other people's views of that may well start to impact because other people will take
- 15:52the cease and super youth, so understanding that.
- 15:55Then to reflect.
- 15:58And I think they reflect.
- 15:59There's a million things to reflect on, obviously, but From the ones in my experience,
- 16:05both my always been working with other people, is that sense of the grim reaper coming into
- 16:11view?
- 16:13That when we were twenty, if we were healthy, we would think about it.
- 16:17Yet later towards the the end of your career and your member, It does sort of come into view
- 16:22more at that point.
- 16:24So what meaning do you give to the rest of your time on the planet?
- 16:30And what does that mean to direct you where your energies will go and whatever?
- 16:36However, the excitement of unless you have something that will restrict your life, you
- 16:41know, your lifespan, you've probably another 30 plus years.
- 16:44So So what are you gonna how are you gonna make that extraordinary?
- 16:48And I think also to reflect on, therefore, when you get that, what will be important allows a
- 16:56result what will be unimportant.
- 16:59So maybe this is a man man man thing, I think.
- 17:03But maybe the Mercedes in the car park will be less important than the future than it is now.
- 17:10Or the Gucci bag will will a a a smaller one will do your own.
- 17:15You know, whatever those things are, it's just just being clear about that.
- 17:20There's also, I think, something about what would you miss You know, you're in an exciting
- 17:25job.
- 17:26You're doing exciting things.
- 17:27There's lots of benefits and rewards and there's status and there's all of that.
- 17:32One of the things you're gonna miss when you do because coming to terms with that is important.
- 17:38I I can tell you that if all the people I've coached No one has no one yet has said to me.
- 17:48I wish I'd I'd not done this, you know, the stepping out bit, but lots of people say I wish
- 17:54I'd done this sooner because actually, the rewards I was getting from working are not the
- 18:00rewards I'm now looking for or whatever else.
- 18:03And, and also to think about what's getting in the way.
- 18:06What's stopping me from moving forward?
- 18:09And then the last bit is the plan.
- 18:12My I think there are 3 horizons to plan for.
- 18:16The one is what's my plan to finish well?
- 18:20Okay.
- 18:20So what I need to do to finish well?
- 18:23The second one is what am I gonna do with the the the the next third of my life?
- 18:29But there's one in between that is how am I gonna manage the 1st 6 months?
- 18:33Because that's when a lot of things derail and you're experimenting and Work is the operating
- 18:39principle of your life if you're a senior leader.
- 18:42It defines a lot about when you take all of this when you go home with it.
- 18:46Once that's gone, what's gonna be the operating principle for your life and how do you create
- 18:51that?
- 18:52So those things can can, you know, So the 3 horizons, and then in terms of the next 30
- 18:59years or at least the next 5 years, a couple of things to to think about.
- 19:041st of all, life is an improvised re art.
- 19:09You know,
- 19:10an improvised re art.
- 19:13An improvisery art.
- 19:14So it's Yeah.
- 19:15Yes.
- 19:15Yes.
- 19:16The art of improvisation.
- 19:17Okay.
- 19:19The second thing is a to b planning doesn't work, which is what most of us do.
- 19:22We go.
- 19:23I'm at point a.
- 19:24How do I get the point b?
- 19:26What are the accents I need to take?
- 19:27When you think of something as enormous as the next third of your life, it's not a debate for
- 19:34I know I know this from the people that it's 85% of people a to b doesn't work because it's
- 19:41It's a to b or maybe c or d or e or even f or t.
- 19:46How how do you plan for that?
- 19:49Well, that's the reality, and it is planable for.
- 19:53And the methodology that I use with people is option appraisal is to go first of all, what is
- 20:01it?
- 20:01How are you gonna judge the options for what you do after you've stepped out?
- 20:07That can be, I ask the people, you know, how do you wanna feel when you wake up in the morning?
- 20:12And they've got I wanna feel challenged.
- 20:14They wanna feel energetic.
- 20:15I wanna feel inspired.
- 20:17Like, oh, okay.
- 20:18Well, well, so that's one of your criteria of what you do next.
- 20:22And people will say, I also I don't have enough money to completely retire.
- 20:28So I will need to do some work.
- 20:30Okay?
- 20:31But I wanna be well prepared.
- 20:32So that's another criteria.
- 20:34Another country.
- 20:35I want to spend more time with the people I love most, and I see a finish as a deficit
- 20:42there.
- 20:42So whatever I do next needs to allow me to do that.
- 20:45And then there's the ones like, you know, I wanna play the won't allow to play the piano.
- 20:49So whatever those are, and then you look at what are your options?
- 20:52So what sort of things could do?
- 20:54So you could retire to the sofa and daytime TV.
- 20:57The problem with that is you'd probably die pretty quickly.
- 21:00Right?
- 21:01So to me, it's never a good option.
- 21:03You can retire to retired but doing some work.
- 21:08You can do, like, I've done, which is to have an on core career, which is less pressurized
- 21:13and more enjoyable, and then said that you can you know, you can retire to leisure projects.
- 21:21I know lots of people who retire from busy, careers.
- 21:25I'm going to go right now.
- 21:26I'm gonna climb my diverse.
- 21:28Actually, quite literally, no.
- 21:29That's my work.
- 21:30That's replaces my work project.
- 21:32With something else.
- 21:33So there's lots of different options.
- 21:35And then if you create those Roxanne, go, well, which ones will match the appraisal criteria
- 21:40and set first?
- 21:42And then that starts to create a blueprint for going, okay.
- 21:45These are the things that might work for me.
- 21:47These are the things I'll make me feel though I wanna fail.
- 21:49And then the trick that I learned from someone I was working with, he said, you know, I will
- 21:57not know If I get if any of these opportunities come along, I won't know in advance, but when
- 22:05they come on and don't intuitively whether they're right for me or not, So I said, what
- 22:10does that mean?
- 22:10He said, so I should I should pursue all of these options.
- 22:16Right?
- 22:17And actively pursue them.
- 22:19And then there's opportunities around.
- 22:21I know which ones suit me best and whatever.
- 22:23So there there's a way of planning for this that's different than what we normally do.
- 22:27So you're reassessing.
- 22:28You're giving yourself enough time to be able to say, oh, this one this option, this and this
- 22:33might work, but this isn't gonna work on it.
- 22:35Oh, I like this one.
- 22:35Well, I didn't thought about that one.
- 22:37So you're really kind of, pivoting or adjusting as you go, giving yourself time to be able to
- 22:44get to the to the endpoint.
- 22:45And not just arriving at the endpoint, like you said, with the one individual 6 weeks out, for
- 22:50the guy that says, I'm at home.
- 22:53You're giving yourself the the time to really be reflective and say, you know, and as a
- 23:01clinician, one thing that, I often say to people when I'm trying to understand what they
- 23:05value is, It's an exercise, you know, if if you were reflecting back if you're you're on your
- 23:11deathbed, basically,
- 23:12and
- 23:12you'll pay back, And, you're gonna the the, you know, person on their deathbed is going to tell
- 23:19the younger version of themselves they're gonna open their eye and they don't know it, but as
- 23:24miracle had happened, and they're going to basically tell the create a narrative of
- 23:29everything that needs to be there.
- 23:30So kind of on a clinical end, it makes sense for talking about value alignment, and then
- 23:37thinking through scenarios and and kinda you know, practicing them a bit and and learning,
- 23:42oh, that's not gonna work.
- 23:43This is gonna work.
- 23:44So at the end of it, you have some semblance of a model of some sort that you can work from.
- 23:50Which makes so much sense over.
- 23:53And and you see, Roxanne, the reason that that that probably should exist But in many
- 24:00organizations, I see the great majority of organizing what I can see.
- 24:05Senior leaders thinking about stepping out remains an unmentionable.
- 24:11You don't declare it.
- 24:12You don't talk about it.
- 24:13Give an example of that day in one of the big global law firms.
- 24:18Their policies are such that your final your final package is worked out on the revenues you
- 24:27generated in the previous 3 years.
- 24:30Oh.
- 24:30If 3 years out, you go and thinking of retiring or stepping out, the revenue streams dry up And
- 24:38you so declaring it becomes nonsensical.
- 24:41And these are very smart people.
- 24:43So so why would you do that?
- 24:46One of the impacts of that is so people don't have role models.
- 24:51They don't see people doing it successfully because nobody talks about it.
- 24:54Until very close to when we leave that.
- 24:57So we don't know how we really don't know how to do this.
- 25:00And therefore, that idea of having to create that.
- 25:05Makes sense of the storyline of her life with this in the context.
- 25:09There is some heavy lifting we might have to do at this point
- 25:13It's not what you're saying.
- 25:14The narratives of all these successes.
- 25:16Right?
- 25:16Like, I mean, how important is that?
- 25:19Right?
- 25:19Because I think that's that's the important thing is if you have all these successful
- 25:24transitions, right, but they're not allowed to share it at some point having, like, your
- 25:29coaches or whatever be able to to to spend that time.
- 25:32With them, I think would afford them the space.
- 25:35Oh, and it's why it's why our accredited coaches have all stepped out themselves.
- 25:42Which makes so much sense.
- 25:44Right?
- 25:44It's I
- 25:45didn't know what it feels like.
- 25:46You know?
- 25:47Oh, yeah.
- 25:47I remember
- 25:48I remember myself.
- 25:49And how poorly I didn't.
- 25:51And I was like, you know, you know, had the outplacement services and whatever, but I was
- 25:55going to the I I was trying to you know, find that rhythm and I was going to the outpatient
- 26:00plate, the placement, sal satellite services because I was trying to find I was I was so
- 26:06structured So, guess what?
- 26:07I was like, okay.
- 26:08I'm gonna go through the tumble cycle here several times.
- 26:11Then I realized, why do I need to go there?
- 26:14But it told me not of doing that for a bit.
- 26:17Before I kind of started to get that off of a cell phone gone, laptop gone, you know, kind
- 26:22of.
- 26:23Alright.
- 26:23So, like, what do I do with my No.
- 26:25What is what is it that I'm gonna do with my, you know, my time?
- 26:29And then it's funny.
- 26:30You're right.
- 26:30You you start to, you know, figure it out a bit at a time.
- 26:33And that's a rough period there to your point.
- 26:35The 1st couple months, you're like, okay.
- 26:38What am I gonna do until you kinda start to find, like, I phoned up cultural relative
- 26:42quickly and, started to figure out things, but it's still a lonely time.
- 26:46And then you're reflecting on that time that legacy piece that you've left behind and the
- 26:51connections and all those things, right, that you wanna take with you.
- 26:55And, I mean, clearly, if you do it well, I have most of the connections of the people I wanted
- 27:00to stay, not everybody, but are the ones that I wanted to stay involved in.
- 27:04Now, over one last question I have for you.
- 27:08Are for companies.
- 27:09Right?
- 27:10We know the impact.
- 27:11We know if if the lack of investment is costing a $1,000,000,000,000.
- 27:16So peep for people that our companies are thinking, you know what?
- 27:19This makes so much sense.
- 27:21I can see it.
- 27:22You know, I can see how it's kinda hit our bottom line.
- 27:26What what kinds of things should they be considering?
- 27:28And then I want you to tell them where they can get a hold of you so that you can support them
- 27:33through this.
- 27:34Yeah.
- 27:35My experience is to start small.
- 27:40Okay.
- 27:41So if you think supporting our senior, I'll give you one example.
- 27:45Again, it was a law firm, global law firm, and they hadn't done this before.
- 27:49They know it's a formal approach and they they, they did a lot.
- 27:54That one one of their partners was hurting.
- 27:58Right.
- 28:01And they said to the partner, would you like some support to help you leave?
- 28:05Well, he said, I would love that.
- 28:09And he had been through that episode of, psychiatric disturbance.
- 28:16Okay.
- 28:16So as well as all the stuff we've been fifty something or whatever.
- 28:20And a couple of incidences had had in his law practice that he felt damaged his reputation as
- 28:27well.
- 28:27So it's in a very vulnerable spot.
- 28:31And on a review, I could have kissed him on a a Zoom review He said to the person who'd
- 28:37commissioned it.
- 28:39You know, quite honestly, having been a lifer in the com in the firm, I was leaving unhappy,
- 28:46disgruntled, and annoyed.
- 28:49He said, because you made this coaching available, I'm now leaving us an ambassador and
- 28:54an advocate.
- 28:55Wow.
- 28:55K.
- 28:57I said to him, would you be prepared for the person you thought to to reflect that to other
- 29:03people.
- 29:04So there was a there was an example to build from Okay.
- 29:12Inevitably, there is resistance.
- 29:14There is people who will go, you know, senior leaders are not, an endangered species.
- 29:22They don't deserve sympathy.
- 29:23They're very well pet.
- 29:24They're very capable.
- 29:25And you go, yes.
- 29:27But the business case is to get the succession right between them leaving and the other
- 29:34person.
- 29:34And and and encouraged that.
- 29:37So one of the things that I do is work with the chief people officer, for example, to How do
- 29:44you engage the organization?
- 29:46Because at the end of the day, it's probably the board chair or the chief executive has to
- 29:51go, yes.
- 29:52Let's do this.
- 29:54So how do you get to them and having 1 or 2 real examples of where it's worked?
- 30:01Also, I mean, I've, I'm gonna be in the next few weeks doing a session with the executive
- 30:10leadership team of quite a large finance company, and it's a European, team.
- 30:15And We're proposing to them to go, should we sponsor helping our senior leaders to step out
- 30:25as far more formal process.
- 30:27I know I could I would put as much money as you want them at the end.
- 30:31We'll go, yes.
- 30:32Because the case is very logical and whatever.
- 30:35And once you've got that, then you can start to say, how do we put this into place and
- 30:39whatever?
- 30:40But it's that sense of being and I think that's why it is useful to talk to someone who knows
- 30:47what they're talking about.
- 30:48And if I've convinced anybody that that's me, then I'm really happy to talk to them about how
- 30:53you might go forward.
- 30:54I work in the because I'm passionate about this.
- 30:57I work in the basement.
- 30:58I'm very happy to do, no strings conversations.
- 31:05Amazing.
- 31:05And if from that, then people go, I see it is worth taking it forward, then we can talk
- 31:09about, what it's gonna cost.
- 31:11But I'm, you know, I'm I'm committed to go, there's something here that we need to get
- 31:15better at.
- 31:15So I'm a very happy to support that.
- 31:18Awesome.
- 31:18While building that business case, right?
- 31:20To take it forward, you have to be able to have, you know, the bottom line numbers that
- 31:25are associated with why this is an important thing to implement.
- 31:29So this has been an amazing conversation, Oliver.
- 31:31I so enjoyed it.
- 31:32I've learned a lot.
- 31:34I now understand how my transition, how it went and, why I bumbled.
- 31:41So I feel like I I probably in that subset of okay.
- 31:45You're out, but now what do you do?
- 31:46So I've learned a bit more about myself.
- 31:49So for everyone, like, you know, just reflect on where you're at if you're a senior leader.
- 31:55If you're, you know, chair of a board and you're recognizing you know, that you are
- 32:02taking care of the person that the baton is being handed to.
- 32:07What are you doing with the people that of are the ones that start off the handle.
- 32:12And what duty do you have to them?
- 32:14Because as we know with business, it's out there our our face, our legacy is out there in
- 32:21the social imprints on social media.
- 32:24And I think it's just being nice to people that have been good to you that have built your
- 32:29businesses.
- 32:30And, what a nice way to transition off by thinking this through.
- 32:34So that and then turn what you're doing for your businesses, you're you're creating a
- 32:39better bottom line.
- 32:40If you can, you know, shift that percentage down because you've prepared.
- 32:45So that's what I'm walking away with.
- 32:47Oliver, again, thanks so much.
- 32:49It's been amazing conversation for everyone.
- 32:52If you're wanting to know a bit more about relationships and how you connect on an
- 32:56authentic level, either at work or at home.
- 32:58You can go to my website at roxander@hotch.comforward/quiz.
- 33:02We do a mini quiz send you a little report.
- 33:04And if you need to chat further about next steps, I'd be more than happy to do that.
- 33:09Again, Oliver, we'll talk to you soon.
- 33:10Take care.
- 33:11Roxanne.
- 33:12Thank you very much.
- 33:14Thanks for tuning in to authentic living with Roxanne.
- 33:17Creating the space positive, healthy change.
- 33:20Roxanne is a keynote speaker, psychotherapist, and coach to work with Roxanne, visit
- 33:27roxannederhaj.com/blueprint.
- 33:31We'll see you next time.
- 33:32An authentic living with Roxanne.