A friend of mine was recently telling me about a company he recently left after a 10-year tenure. He had the privilege to work for the CEO for the last half of his time there, and is still inspired by that CEO’s clarity about the business and his ability to inspire everyone at the company. The CEO recently retired – a move that was a long-time coming. And the company is in turmoil as a result of the leadership vacuum created in the wake of the CEO’s departure. All of the executives are talking about leaving; without the CEO they feel lost.
My friend reveres that CEO as the greatest leader he has ever worked with. “See look what he built – the company can’t survive if he’s gone! That’s the mark of a great leader,” he said to me. I’m not so sure. After my recent conversation, I am left wondering what it says about a leader if their company’s success is driven by their presence. We all want to be wanted, and needed, and all want to feel that special sense that comes with being irreplaceable. Being irreplaceable creates a lot of burden, and ultimately negatively effects the lives of the people who work for that CEO in a profound way.
At the very least, cultivating that idea of being irreplaceable is irresponsible. The truth is that none of us will live forever, no matter how much we exercise, or how well we eat, or how often we monitor our health. And with job switching being so commonplace in today’s economy, on average each of us will change jobs almost 10 times in our lifetime. If a company falls apart due to one person’s departure, it means that leader didn’t create an active succession plan, and maybe the vision he or she inspired was not sustainable, and therefore not successful in the long-term.
I think about my recent trip out to LA to visit with Disney. Walt Disney died in 1967, a very young man, from lung cancer. From the time of his diagnosis, he had a year to live. And so much more he wanted to do. Even as he was building a company on imagination and achieving the impossible, a company that bore his name, he was also building something much more valuable – a company that could live on without him because of the brilliant and creative people he had the foresight to surround himself with. He passed the torch to a very capable group of people, who brought in even more capable people, to allow for continued growth decades later. To me, leaving a legacy that lasts in your absence if the greatest mark of successful leadership.
The photo above can be found at http://darkstar.holtz.com/hct/ee/images/uploads/hk-ceo.jpg
Published by Christa Avampato
The short of it:
Writer. Health, education, and art advocate. Theater and film producer. Visual artist. Product geek. Proud alumnae of the University of Pennsylvania (BA) and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA). Inspired by ancient wisdom & modern tech. Proliferator of goodness. Opener of doors. Friend to animals. Fan of creative work in all its wondrous forms. I use my business skills to create passion projects that build a better world. I’ve been called the happiest New Yorker, and I try hard to live up to that title every day.
The long of it:
My career has stretched across Capitol Hill, Broadway theatre, education, nonprofit fundraising, health and wellness, and Fortune 500 companies in retail, media, entertainment, technology, and financial services. I’ve been a product developer and product manager, theater manager, strategic consultant, marketer, voice over artist, , teacher, and fundraiser. I use my business and storytelling to support and sustain passion projects that build a better world. In every experience, I’ve used my sense of and respect for elegant design to develop meaningful products, services, programs, and events.
While building a business career, I also built a strong portfolio as a journalist, novelist, freelance writer, interviewer, presenter, and public speaker. My writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, PBS.org, Boston.com, Royal Media Partners publications, and The Motley Fool on a wide range of topics including business, technology, science, health, education, culture, and lifestyle. I have also been an invited speaker at SXSW, Teach for America, Avon headquarters, Games for Change, NYU, Columbia University, Hunter College, and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. The first book in my young adult book series, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, was acquired by a publisher and launched in November 2017. I’m currently working on the second book in the series.
A recovering multi-tasker, I’m equally at home in front of my Mac, on my yoga mat, walking my rescue dog, Phineas, traveling with a purpose, or practicing the high-art of people watching. I also cut up small bits of paper and put them back together as a collage artist.
My company:
I’m bringing together all of my business and creative career paths as the Founder of Double or Nothing Media:
• I craft products, programs, and projects that make a difference;
• I build the business plans that make what I craft financially sustainable;
• I tell the stories that matter about the people, places, and products that inspire me.
Follow my adventures on Twitter at https://twitter.com/christanyc and Instagram at https://instagram.com/christarosenyc.
View all posts by Christa Avampato
A friend of mine was recently telling me about a company he recently left after a 10-year tenure. He had the privilege to work for the CEO for the last half of his time there, and is still inspired by that CEO’s clarity about the business and his ability to inspire everyone at the company. The CEO recently retired – a move that was a long-time coming. And the company is in turmoil as a result of the leadership vacuum created in the wake of the CEO’s departure. All of the executives are talking about leaving; without the CEO they feel lost. 
Christa Avampato 