Successful leadership transition is a marathon not a sprint

Already a successful entrepreneur, in 2018, Karen Brookman joined her family’s business, West Canadian Digital Imaging. As President and CEO, she’s building the next generation of the company. Passionate about inclusion, she is an Advisory Board Member for Women of Influence.

By Karen Brookman

When I think about leadership transition, I imagine an inspiring image of a relay runner racing around a track with speed and grace. As the runner enters the exchange zone, an effortless, quick and glorious hand-off occurs as the succeeding runner grasps the baton and accelerates forward to win the race. Of course, in real life, passing the leadership baton can feel more like a cross country marathon than a well-orchestrated sprint. Success depends largely on how well prepared we are for the complexity, emotion involved, and time required to complete the transition.

In my case, I moved to Calgary in late 2018 to take over the leadership of our family’s 65-year-old Alberta based business. The opportunity to succeed my father, a 35-year veteran, award-winning CEO, was an opportunity filled with possibility and purpose that I could not pass up. To build and grow the next generation of a company felt like the most compelling and exciting career opportunity of my life. 

Sixteen months later, in November 2019, I was officially appointed as the President and CEO of the company after some valuable lessons learned. It was a bittersweet and significant moment as we celebrated the ending of one generation and the start of the next.

As I reflect on the time leading up to the transition, the biggest lesson for me was the realization that taking over a business isn’t just about accepting a new leadership position, it is about honouring the legacy left behind by the previous management team while creating excitement and momentum around a new chapter. The transition involves engaging people in the possibility of a new future while being empathetic and considerate of the feelings of loss associated with letting go of the past. 

“Speaking with employees and customers provided a mechanism to understand business strengths and opportunities, celebrate team successes and build trust with people by understanding their role and contribution to the company.”

The three biggest lessons I learned were:

Be Patient and Take Time to Honour the Past

Developing a new company vision can be exciting for leaders who are hungry to implement fresh ideas. However, for existing employees who are happy with the status quo and have enjoyed a successful history, too much change can be confronting and demoralizing. I learned the value of investing time in fully immersing myself in the current state of the organization. Speaking with employees and customers provided a mechanism to understand business strengths and opportunities, celebrate team successes and build trust with people by understanding their role and contribution to the company. This investment also helped formulate a well-informed case for change based on current challenges and the type of leadership needed to move the company forward.

Investigate the Current State and Build a Case for Change

During the transition, I focused on identifying opportunities for growth and innovation. I was fortunate to have existing experience in our industry but needed to evolve the culture to one more focused on learning, collaboration and agility. In order to compete in an increasingly technology-driven industry, the company had to be willing to embrace new ways of working. In the first year, I created a quiet movement in the company by working closely with employees to identify quick wins that would improve productivity, customer satisfaction and team performance. The ability for us to experience success from small, incremental changes provided increasing confidence and excitement about the future. 

Communicate, Collaborate and Celebrate

At the heart of a successful transition, is the ability to lead people through change. Before the company was ready to accept and support a new CEO, we needed to communicate why the change was needed, why now, and to explain the benefits of the succession to employees. After 35 years, my father had developed a very loyal following in the company and employees trusted his leadership. We invested a lot of time in communicating via email, video and internal social media channels like Yammer. We held lunches with key staff and stakeholders to discuss the succession plan and to gather feedback. Our communication initiatives paid off and when the succession finally happened, it felt right.  

When I look back over our transition, the decision to be patient and thoughtful was a critical success factor that enabled us to celebrate the future together while respecting the backbone of a great history and legacy.