I was recently speaking with a mentor and congratulating her on a recent promotion. I asked her when the announcement about her role was going out because I wanted to publicly celebrate her accomplishment. For a black woman to be hand selected to be a chief a staff at a university she has never worked at, was a big deal. I wanted to honor that. The percentage of black women in leadership in the academy is disrespectful. Her response to me was different. She said the position was announce but she had not posted it and would not share it until closer to her start date. She told me her team needed time to process the change and she wanted to leave them in a good place. She spent time really cultivating her team and cared deeply for them. Though excited by the new opportunity, she was aware how that leadership change significantly impacted her team. She was more focused on her replacement, guiding her team through the transition and leaving everything in a good place. She made me pause and really think about her actions. One of the things I am great at is cultivating and developing teams. I intently listen and create a synergy amongst the team members that is rooted in trust, respect and shared vision. Everyone sees their contribution to the team and they learn how valuable their perspectives are. But I had never once thought about the impact of a change in leadership. I think I would have celebrated and not realized my celebration could cause undo harm to a team that could be grieving the change. In similar situation a colleague told me he was leaving and told no one else. He didn’t plan on sharing the news of his departure until his team was told. He wanted them to have time to process it. I learned so much from them in such short period of time. Here are my thoughts:
If your team is important to you, you consider them first even if you are departing the institution.
As a leader you must care for and take care with your team.
The transparency and respect for your team should be seen in every decision you make.
There is always time for a celebration and the relationships you make with your team is worth the wait.
Grief is a possible outcome of a departure of a leader. Allow space for it.
