Why You Should Hire Your Replacement

Let's face it, we are all going to leave our jobs one day. Hopefully by choice but one way or another, it will happen.

Who will fill your shoes when you do?

The November 2010 issue of Healthcare Leadership Review provided an excerpt from the article, "Hiring Your Replacement," where author Tim Tolan wrote, "Although hiring your replacement might seem counterintuitive, doing so will help secure your organization's succession planning and business continuity." And, he provided a few steps for doing so which included: hiring smart people, measuring cultural fit, letting them succeed and losing you ego.

The part about losing your ego really rang true to me as I looked back through my career to supervisors, managers, and leaders blue in the face and fingers holding tight to "their" people, processes, and paper. They were hurting everyone - and themselves. Get a life outside of work comes to mind, but I digress.

As a developing workforce succession planner, I appreciate it when successors are available for our key positions. Having done replacement planning for more than a few years because succession pipelines were not in place, I know that having successors makes sense all around.

But if doing it for the company is not what gets you going, how about doing it for you? There are a few selfish reasons for hiring your replacement (and I ask readers to join in with some of their own) and here thoughts on what's in it for you (WIIFY):

• More noodle time (great ideas)
• 2 heads are better than 1 (better ideas)
• Benefit of another's perspective (well rounded thoughts)
• Get to develop potential in another (leader who cares)
• Ability to fill in knowledge, skill and experience gaps (better performance=better reviews)
• Opportunity to do the things you never seem to get to (no to-do list=peace of mind)
• Real-time chance to refine your coaching and mentoring skills (leader who can be trusted)

Not your thing? Then how about your own personal minion, someone to do the things you really don't like to do, a new Sunshine Fund owner, and someone to route annoying sales and data collection calls to?

Listen, hiring a replacement who shares your vision and can deliver on your goals will make your life easier and will make everyone, especially you, look that much better. Dio this one thing right and you'll continue to look good even after you're gone.

What ever your reason, whatever your motivtation - just do it. Hire your replacement and be sure she is ready to step in when the needs arises. 

It is the right thing to do.

Photo credit iStock Photo

Focus. Just Focus.

I am an out of sight out of mind kind of a girl.

Sometimes when I have things to do, a list just doesn't seem to be enough of a reminder. At times like these and to be sure I don't forget, I keep my things to do within easy reach. Be it in the front seat of the car, in my OM bag, or in my right hand - my things to do are very close to me.

Not all of my things to do like grocery items to buy, bank accounts to open, and appointments to make get such a prominent place in my psyche. Only my reading, writing, and other "for me" things to do are worthy of that spot.

Life's been a bit hectic lately and I haven't been able to to do the things I want to do. Yet, there they were, day after day, staring back at me from the front seat of my car, my bag, my right hand.

So, I did what any out of sight out of mind girl who appreciates her psyche would do - I moved the things to do out of sight. 

I took items from my car, my bag and my right hand and put them on a shelf. A snazzy red shelf by the front door that I pass at least 2x per day, but a shelf just the same.

Now, instead of having the totality of all of my things to do within easy reach 24 hours a day, they are  tucked away. Not so far away where I wouldn't see them (because then I'd forget about them), but far enough away that I'd have to consciously go to them to get what I wanted.

Resolving to read more this year, much of my to do's are books I want to read and I am giving myself more time to read them. To better sort and prioritize my writing efforts, I also took my one hard covered black Moleskine and traded it for 3 soft sided red ones (see them right there under the books?) for the three different types of venues I am currently writing for.

You could say I may need to learn to say "no" more often but it's really not that often that I say yes. For me, it's a matter of setting (and owning that yes, I can set) boundaries, expectations, and terms for the hours and minutes of my time that I give to others. 

I'll now go to the shelf and pick the one or two things I am going to work on during a particular day or week and leave the rest behind. No worries. The things to do are safe, secure and will all get done. In due time. In my time.

And with my psyche in tact.

What tips do you have for keeping your psyche in tact when there's seemingly not enough to go around?