Leaving Leadership

Garden of the Gods, Colorado

Author's Note: I wrote this in the summer of 2022 and wanted to repackage it and update it but found it better as is. Yes, my term on CSI's board has been over for over a year but I'm embarking on a new challenge… more on that later. Our firm did move into our new office space in Dec 2022 and we love it! I hope you enjoy my thoughts here! 

Our firm is moving into new office space later this year. For an architecture firm to move into new office space brings a lot of questions, a lot of excitement and a modicum of drama and second guessing. Especially when your firm is a top design firm in your area and has an incredibly talented workplace studio within your interior architecture group, as we do. All of this combined with the stereotypical ego of architects means the design of our new office space is under a fair amount of scrutiny. 

I’ve built my career designing renovations and ground up buildings at colleges and universities, specifically research and teaching laboratories. I know very little about workplace design and furniture selection. For those reasons and more, I have stayed out of the design and furnishing of our new office space. For me, it’s a matter of trust. I trust the leaders and the design professionals who were tasked with the thankless project of designing and producing construction documents, selecting furnishings and working with the construction professionals to bring our new office space to life. When you honestly and absolutely trust those folks, it's easy to stay away. I ask a few questions, provide input when asked and anxiously await the next tour of our new space. 

Leaving leadership is also all about trust – trusting the people that come after you to continue the work that you helped start. Every leader’s time in the big chair comes to an end. Either by retiring, term ending or losing an election, we all see our time in leadership come to an end. Leaving leadership and trusting those who come after you is about recognizing your place along the continuum. There were leaders before you that set the table for your work and there are leaders after you to continue that work. The same is true for CSI. I trust the leaders that are coming after me to continue the work; not work that I started but work that I continued, taking the reins from the leaders before me. 

My time as CSI Board Chair ended at midnight as June 30, 2022 turned to July 1, 2022. My time as Board Chair was one of the great honors of my life and was an immensely rewarding two years. How I react after my term ended is entirely up to me. I’ve observed a number of different reactions from other past presidents and past board chairs. It is easy to get used to being “in the know” and the juice that comes with it. It’s an easy trap to fall into wanting to remain involved at the same high level but that can lead to problems with your successors in addition to confidentially issues. 

I knew leading up to June 30, how I reacted to the end would chart the course for the next Board and Board Chair, so I started preparing towards the end of 2021. In our January 2022 board meeting I referenced events and decisions that would have to be made at the October board meeting, emphasizing these are their decisions and I will no longer be a board member then. I kept up those references across the next several months while supporting the next set of leaders, once the slate of officers was elected in April. 

I saw that as the last of my duties as Board Chair: ensure the next group is ready to continue. It was easy for me as our board is stocked with smart, kind and caring folks who enjoy each other and enjoy working on behalf of our members. I was fortunate in that manner and I recognize not all leaders have that advantage. But I also didn't leave it to chance. I had multiple conversations with the Chair-elect, both with our paid staff and without. I spoke with each incoming officer and other key board members to help them with what they needed and letting them know I'm still here for them and will be their biggest cheerleader both publicly and privately. 

Change Management is sometimes a cliché in most industries but is critical to the success of any organization. Those of us in design professions all know firms who did not have a succession plan and either folded altogether or were sold to larger firms when the founders wanted to retire and saw no other way out. Professional organizations are no different. We have all seen leadership transitions at local and national levels not go very well. Part of the lasting responsibility of leaders is planning for and executing a well-designed succession plan. Without one, everything is left to chance and no one wants that.

Independence Day

Flag on Federal Hill, Baltimore

Independence Day is one of my favorite holidays. I usually spend some time reflecting on the Declaration of Independence and I occasionally read it. I find it to be as relevant now as it was in 1776 when it was read across the colonies and to the troops who would ultimately fight for that independence. It remains a statement of who we aspire to be: a people seeking life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, a place where all are equal and a government deriving her power from the consent of the people.

 

While our nation may not be perfect, the men who wrote, debated and ultimately signed that document also were not perfect. They had intelligence, but they also had ego. They had conviction, but also had fear. They had much to lose but recognized they had much to gain. They also did not fully have the mandate of the people their signatures affected most.

 

I recently finished an excellent two novel set by Jeff Shaara: Rise to Rebellion and The Glorious Cause. These two novels are about the days leading up to the first and second continental congress, documents the writing of the Declaration of Independence and continues through the Revolutionary War and the British surrender at Yorktown. Mr. Shaara refers to them as novels as he researched original documents about the individuals involved in the events including personal correspondence. However, the dialogue and some situations are not original so these books, while historically accurate, are technically novels.

 

These stories are told through the lenses of several players in the action: Ben Franklin, John Adams, Sam Adams, George Washington, Charles Cornwallis and others. I was struct by a number of things while reading these books, but most related to this blog was the leadership styles of these men. Sam Adams was the fiery leader of the Sons of Liberty while his cousin, John, wanted simply to practice law and farm the land with his family. John didn’t initially understand his cousin’s passion but quickly became incensed at how the British were manipulating and ultimately removing the laws that John had studied and made his career protecting. Though never a fire-brand, John’s quiet intellect was much needed in Philadelphia and beyond.

 

Ben Franklin was the well-known and well-respected grandfatherly gentleman sent to England in what ultimately became an untenable position as Postmaster to the colonies and representative to parliament for several colonies. After time back in America, he ultimately went to Paris to help broker the deal that forged the much needed alliance with France. He had a bit of a temper but was also very hard on himself when he made a mistake. He held such strong convictions about the will of the governed and independence of the colonies that he became estranged from his son who was appointed by the King as colonial Governor of New Jersey.

 

Neither Washington nor Cornwallis wanted fame or fortune. They both simply wanted to do their job, win the war quickly and then return to their homes. Obviously, one succeeded and one did not but they both had difficult jobs due to actions of others. Even as Washington prevailed in the war, he was not able to fulfill his personal wish and return to his beloved Mount Vernon as another calling in these United States beckoned him.

 

Each of these men, and many, many others, had intelligence, ego, conviction and fear. Each great leader has those same qualities. How we use these traits, and many others, defines each of us and determines the level of greatest we achieve as leaders. There are times when one of these traits needs to outweigh others. In my business, there are times when fear needs to take precedent to ensure risk is appropriately dealt with. There are times when ego needs to prevail to ensure our designs and clients are appropriately represented. There are times when intelligence needs to elevate so mistakes are not made in inopportune moments. There are times when conviction needs to reign to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public.

As you spend some time on Independence Day enjoying a day off, hopefully some good weather and time with friends and family, take some time to reflect on those who created our country and earned our independence. Think about the great, though flawed, leaders they were and apply some of these thoughts as you return to your leadership at work, at church or in a professional organization. 

It's Been A While

 

View from AT north of Weverton Cliffs, MD

I started this blog many years ago to help me prepare for taking the office of President of the Baltimore Chapter of CSI. In the years since, I have served CSI at the chapter, region and national levels, including two years as national Board Chair, served on our parish council, including two years as chair, served on our boy scout troop committee, including several years as chair, have been elevated to Fellow in CSI and to principal in our firm. Let's just say leadership is not accidental, but more on that in another time. 

Across the last nearly 20 years, my blogging was rarely consistent, though I do enjoy it. When I was elected Board Chair-elect for CSI's FY 2019, I made a conscious effort to not blog much for the next four years. I was privy to much more private information and worried it might slip out into my work. I also worried that revealing aspects of my work in our firm, might raise eyebrows or cause concern as well. I am now no longer on CSI's board and can work to not raise eyebrows in our firm. I'm ready to get back to blogging!

The other trouble with my blogging, is I'm never quite happy with a post. I write it, edit it, edit it more, forget about it and six months go by without me posting it. Sometime this week, you will read a post that was just that way. I left CSI board service July 1, 2023. It was bittersweet, so I blogged about it. I worked on the post across the summer and now, nearly one year later, I haven't posted it. I also have several other drafts from across the last few years that I will repackage and post in the coming weeks. I'm also working on something new to post. 

I appreciate all who read and please feel free to comment. I'm hoping to post something every week or so, so please keep reading!

Thanks,

Marv