There are a lot of transitions going on in my life right now. For starters, my son is graduating from high school. While that’s a major transition for him more so than myself, it still impacts me. What’s more is that my daughter is going to boarding school (her choice) in the fall of 2019 – overseas no less. Wow, I didn’t see that coming! This of course means that my partner and I will be “empty nesters” way earlier than we had planned.

Within our organization, we are also going through a major transition in our leadership structure. One of our long-term trainers, Wendy Loewen, has started working full-time with us in the role of Director of Training. Over the next 15 months, she will transition into the role of Managing Director of ACHIEVE. During this same period, our current Managing Director, Eric Stutzman, will become more familiar with the administrative tasks that I do, and then formally take on the CEO role in August 2020.

As a result of these changes, I will be shifting my energy away from the day-to-day administrative tasks of running our organization. By August 2020, as President, I will continue to be involved in our strategic planning, ACHIEVE Publishing, writing, and speaking. I will also begin working more deliberately to form international partnerships.

In comparing the personal and professional changes in my life, my personal changes have snuck up on me and now I’m scrambling to adjust to the new realities. In my professional domain, however, my approach to the transition has been quite different. Throughout the whole leadership transition process, which started with conversations several years earlier, we have been very methodical and deliberate in our approach. We have taken our time and communicated early and often to our trainers and employees about when and why things are happening as they are.

For those of you who are considering a significant transition that will impact a lot of people, I encourage you to consider your approach – don’t let it be haphazard. If you are planning for a change, plan early, be methodical, and communicate often.

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