How To Write A Brilliant Goodbye Letter

I read a retirement letter on LinkedIn last week from Larry Conrad and it was absolutely brilliant. I realized that rarely do executives write a letter like Larry did. As he announced his retirement from UC Berkeley as Associate Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer, he also announced his successor, Jenn Stringer.

Why is this such an anomaly? On retirement, when you take another role, or when you are promoted... instead of announcing your departure, you also announce your successor. It really should not be that hard.

Because you planned for it.

Because you were thoughtful.

Because your company backs the ability to make decisions fast.

Because your company knows that a gap in leadership will impact your results.

Congratulations Jenn Stringer and best wishes for your retirement Larry Conrad.

Learn more about how to build a Succession Action Program in your company in my book Rapid Growth, Done Right: Lead, Influence, and Innovate for Success, Kogan Page.

Send me your best and worst goodbye letters! I promise not to share without your permission.

Dedicated to growing your business,

Val

P.S. I hope you enjoyed this week's VAL-uable Insights, sign up here to get them in your inbox each Monday morning: http://valwrightconsulting.com/newsletter-sign-up/

How To Make The Best Of This Unusual Summer

We have seven summers left together as a family.

Seven summers before our eldest will be off to college.

Seven summers until summer jobs, holidays with friends, and other commitments will take over. Of course, we will see each other!

I realized this last year and since then our girls have been meticulously researching and suggesting places, experiences, and ideas for how we will spend each of our next seven summers.

As research proves, surprises are overrated and the excitement of looking forward to something gives you just as much joy as the event itself. We have found that in our house planning our future summers together.

Then COVID-19 hit. We had to adjust. Our 2020 summer might consist of our backyard, or remote experiences just with our family. My mum and dad were meant to be here from England for three weeks right now.

So instead we are teaching our three girls (and reminding ourselves) resilience, adaptability, being grateful for what we do have, and helping those who are less fortunate.

We bought a fire pit for our back garden, created an outdoor gymnastics area, and turned a kids' playhouse into an arts and crafts corner. We are learning the art of collaboration (ok, arguing!) with a family island on Nintendo’s Animal Crossing, my eldest daughter has set up a dog treat business thanks to the kid's marketplace on bizzygirls.com, our girls are taking it in turns to be Chef for the night and making dinner and dessert, and we are exploring more of our local history in Southern California.

What will this summer bring?

Perhaps we will rent an RV.

Perhaps we will escape to the mountains.

Perhaps we will adjust and adapt for 2020 and keep planning the next six summers in faraway places.

Enjoy the joy of the unknown.

Dedicated to growing your business,

Val

P.S. I hope you enjoyed this week's VAL-uable Insights, sign up here to get them in your inbox each Monday morning: http://valwrightconsulting.com/newsletter-sign-up/

How To Eliminate The Guilt Of Success

Not every business is failing today, in fact, some are booming.

When I talk to executives at companies who are experiencing Black-Friday-like sales every day of the week or having unprecedented sales growth I tell each of them the same:

Don’t feel or act guilty for your success.

That reinforces a false narrative that the whole world is suffering, failing, and falling into despair.

Of course, you cannot be tone-deaf in your communications, marketing, customer interactions, employee, or community involvement. BUT that doesn’t mean you need to be silent or avoid talking about your success.

Everyone wants to hear a positive story, you just need to let go of the guilt of not wanting to share it.

It isn’t enough to be brilliant, you have to be brilliant at demonstrating your brilliance.

So I would love to hear - how is your business booming and what is a recent success you want to share?

Here is my guilt-free share of success. In addition to Amazon UK and Amazon’s Kindle US bestsellers list my new book has now hit the Porchlight Business Best Sellers list for May at #7, if you are looking for a brilliant read, please buy #5 It’s About Damn Time by Arlan Hamilton, I was lucky to be part of Arlan’s Preview Book Club and it is a great story of how Arlan broke through the typical boys club of Silicon Valley to launch a successful VC firm Backstage Capital.

Dedicated to growing your business,

Val

P.S. I hope you enjoyed this week's VAL-uable Insights, sign up here to get them in your inbox each Monday morning: http://valwrightconsulting.com/newsletter-sign-up/