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Leaving Well in the Workplace

Katie's Way - how a death-related departure can support Leaving Well culture at your nonprofit

Published about 2 hours ago • 1 min read

Katie didn't get to plan her departure. She died suddenly, mid-leadership, no warning.

What her team did next, during my interim executive director time with them, wasn't in any succession plan I'd ever written. We put a giant sticky note on the wall and asked one question: what did you love about Katie's leadership? The answers repeated, and themes arose.

We named the items that rose to the top: Katie's Way. We then asked the next leader to protect two of those pivotal and memorable leadership concepts, while leaving everything else for them to build and protect.

A team that's just lost a leader they loved will want to hold onto everything. Naming only two things gives the next leader room to actually lead. -Naomi Hattaway

We didn't ask the next leader to become Katie. We asked them to protect two things, and gave them room and permission for the rest.

Leaving well isn't only for planned exits.

​Read the full story on how a grieving team built a culture-protection ritual on the fly, and how you can build yours on purpose, before you ever need to. We've also created a free Katie's Way worksheet you can download for your team, if you'd like to navigate this inside your organization.

Grief doesn't wait for a transition plan. Protect your org's culture, instead of trying in vain to preserve the person you've lost.

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Leaving Well in the Workplace

Naomi Hattaway, Founder and President

Your Leaving Well guide to navigating workplace transitions 🧡 I normalize workplace transitions one organization + person at a time. Leaving Well is the art + practice of leaving in the workplace, with intention + joy.

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