Leadership Oppotunities Need Not End When Your Job Ends

I found myself reminiscing this week about the recent past and the distant past.  As we slowly come out of the pandemic, especially in states like mine (MD) where more people have been vaccinated, I thought back to the few highlights of this past year-and-a-half. Simultaneously, I remembered a time in my leadership work life from more than 20 years ago.

During the pandemic, I decided to organize a Zoom meeting among people I had worked with at Georgetown CLE during the past 15 years.  We came together from across the country, almost all working in different jobs now and navigating the pandemic in different stages of life.

Some people are married with small children.  Others are single and unattached, while others are in blossoming relationships.  Everybody was healthy – fortunately – and working.  We caught up with each other’s personal and professional lives.

At certain points in the 12-person conversation, people spoke about what they had learned from me and each other during their time at Georgetown CLE.  They opined about how those lessons helped them grow in their careers and helped them become leaders at their own jobs.

As I listened, I realized that our ability to provide guidance and assistance to people with whom we work – and with whom we used to work – does not have to cease just because we change jobs or – in my case – retire from a long-time job. 

If we proactively maintain ties with our former colleagues, we can continue to exercise a positive leadership influence on them – if they are interested.

This realization brought me back to a conversation I had several years ago with a woman with whom I worked at Georgetown Law 25 years ago.  She has gone on to enjoy a wonderful career and now is the lead administrator at a major law firm in Washington, DC.

While she and I were preparing one day to co-present on “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” for a National Association of Law Placement (NALP) conference in Washington, DC, she told me: “You know, Larry, I don’t think I ever told you this.  Whenever I am facing a tough decision at work, I ask myself “What would Larry do?”

I was surprised.  “All these years later?” I inquired.  I knew I had served as an informal mentor to this bright, motivated and hard-working woman over the years, but this seemed like a bit much.  We had not worked together in a long time!

“You do not understand,” she continued.  “I was at a very impressionable stage in my career.  I learned so much from you about so many aspects of leadership – work culture, how to listen, how to treat people, how to create a team, how to build group accountability, how to believe in my own judgment.  It goes on and on.”  “Wow,” I said.  “I had no idea my influence on you spread so widely and lasted so long.”

“Just because people do not articulate the lessons they learn from their leaders,” she said, “does not mean those lessons are forgotten.  You have had a lifetime influence on me and now I strive to have the same kind of influence on people I lead.”

Several weeks ago I wrote here about leadership’s “ripple effect.”  This is a wonderful example.  When you change jobs, keep up your friendships and relationships with the people you had the privilege to lead. 

Be there for them if and when they need advice, a shoulder to cry on or a sounding board.  Stay connected with them on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.

These men and women have been a part of your leadership journey.  That journey can continue.

In closing this week’s newsletter, I need to acknowledge my remorse in not always following my own advice.  Despite my admonition to stay in touch with colleagues from years past, I have not always succeeded at that as much as I would have liked to.

Last week a former colleague from Georgetown Law CLE died unexpectedly.  When the stress of working on conference after conference and deadline after deadline proved to have an adverse impact on his health, he and I agreed that he ought to find another position. 

This was the late 1990’s, and I helped this young man secure a job at a wonderful federal agency, a terrific organization only a few blocks from Georgetown Law Center.  During the next 20 years, this young man rose through the ranks to become a respected, admired and beloved colleague at his job.

At the start of his tenure there, we met for lunch on a regular basis.  Then we connected by phone.  Later we communicated though email and Facebook. 

However, I had not done a good job in recent years of keeping up our relationship.  Now he is gone and I will never have that opportunity.

Remember what I said previously – it’s all about relationships.  Keep them up.  You can continue to influence people in a positive way.

That’s what leadership is all about!