Succession Planning March 12, 2007

9 days ago I was on a date and in a moment of proving chivalry was not dead, I slipped on ice while reaching for the passenger side door, landing on my shoulder. The shoulder shattered, and ever since I've been out of the office coping with the constant pain and regular painful muscle spasms. It's going to be a long road--8 weeks, but likely more if they decide to operate, which is likely given the doctor described my shoulder as "mush". Thanks doc.

I can barely type, certainly not more than a few minutes at a time, even though my fingers are fine. I can't drive my car (yay Prius!). I can't play piano or guitar, can't tie my shoes, and many times simply can't move. The pain medication helps as long as I don't move or get jostled. Riding in cars is now completely out of the question after the past few days of my drivers hitting speed bumps and potholes. Ouch.

In my absence, COO Leron Lehman will take over some of my duties. Chris Walker will step up for others, and we'll have team leader meetings in my living room. I'll still coach and help people make decisions, but I'm dropping out of product cycles. I'll still have a hand in marketing, but other than that, I'm toast.

Last year we had the Truck discussion: what happens if I get hit by a truck? Or rather, what happens if I can't work ever again, or for 3 months, which is possible now?

We started looking for a director of operations last summer. Leron was my accountant, and had startup experience and was not your typical accountant--he is a strategic thinker. So after a few months of getting to know each other better, we hired him as COO, my right hand man.

Over the past 18 months we've been careful to hire team leaders who can act autonomously, lead their teams, and still follow the overall strategic goals. Mary Pat Donnellon was one of those hires, and we've recently assigned her to be product manager of the new version of GiftWorks, scheduled for later this summer. Internally we've developed Megan Corr into a self-driven marketing manager; actually she was already self-driven, but now she's really grown into her role.

We've hired a sales and support manager in Joe Rock, who has brought clarity and unity between the two groups and is currently building out that team. And Russ Burke, as always, takes the initiative on a number of customer education efforts regularly.

We're not finished succession planning or disaster planning, but we're close. My question to you is this: what happens if YOU are hit by a truck? Who picks up from where you left off? How does your board know who to bring in, or how to recruit? is your role documented enough that someone could read it and start filling in right away? Do you have a statement of principles for everything you do?

We do, and we don't. I've been working on institutionalizing my  role as much as possible over the past 6 months, in case something like, well, this happens. We are doing it for all of our roles, and for the company principles. We're also doing some of the basic disaster planning stuff, but that's a lot easier.

I'm tired from typing and should get back to bed. You can still email me but I'm generally not working, and only holding occasional meetings. If you'd like to send flowers or chocolate or a nice guitar, save it and send a check instead to the Lancaster Y---it would be most appreciated. In the meantime, develop your Truck Plan, the instruction manual for when you are suddenly incapacitated. And I hope, truly, that it gathers dust for all time.

Comments

I hope that by the time you read this, the pain has subsided to the point of at least tolerable and you can get back to the music and work that you love. You do have an incredible staff who will keep this wonderful company going. You're right- all organizations should have a "back up" plan and ideas of what to do before disaster strikes. It's so much better than panic in the heat of the moment!
You know, someone will always seems to come by to pick up the pieces and carry on when one can't, but no one can replace the uniqueness of the person missing. Feel better!!! C:)

It sounds like you are doing a good job on your disaster planning for your company. You might also want to think about what happens in the legal sense with stock ownership and control of the company. Having a good operating agreement in place will help with this. In addition, it’s important to think about having appropriate insurance in place for disaster planning and recovery. I’ve written several white papers on this topic on our planning web site. If you’re interested or bored, you could check them out.