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With CEO Succession planning, a big question from boards is, should we look at internal candidates to be the next CEO, or an external candidate? As Chip Bergh, the outgoing CEO of Levi Strauss & Co. explained in Boardspan's last webinar, the answer is that the right candidate can be both. As Bergh transitions his CEO role to Michelle Gass this week, business publications are talking about Levi's unique approach to succession planning, citing it as a possible model for the future. In The Art of CEO Succession Planning, Chip talks quite a bit about the novel approach he and the board took. If you want to hear the story, the link to the full webinar is in the first comment. The whole webcast is fascinating and I really enjoyed being part of it. #contentmarketing #webinarinsights #thoughtleadership

Who is on your personal board of directors? This was a question that was asked at my very first GM conference at Gap Inc. I was at a vulnerable place in my life, I’d just had my third kid, instead of going back to my GM position at Peebles, I’d decided to join Sears, only to have my store closed within 60 days of starting. I vowed to never work for a company who was not financially sound again. Enter Old Navy. They were top dog when it came to fast fashion. They’d cornered the market when it came to on trend products at value prices & I believed in their vision. Gap Inc stood for more than selling clothes, it required its leaders to “do what you love,” & I believed in their vision. In my tenure at Old Navy I was rewarded & recognized for my efforts. I LOVED what I did & I did way more than sell clothes! I understood the value of a fashion brand that was affordable. Every time I got someone into a pair of jeans that made them feel confident I remembered being a 12 year old on a school bus who wore ill fitting dress pants cut at the cuff in an effort to do a fake “French cuff” hoping that no one would notice that they weren’t “jeans.” I looked at at the other girls, envious of their jeans, just wanting to blend in. When I started at old navy, I was in a low volume store. On my way to my 1st conference I ended up on a bus with all of the high volume managers from NYC. They were sharing war stories & talking about their volume/ranking. I instantly felt like that kid on the bus in ill fitting dress pants just wanting to blend in. I promised myself that I would be a top 100 manager before the next conference. We talk a lot in business about a fixed mindset vs open mindset. Part of having an open mindset is being able to be vulnerable while knowing what you want. I listened intently to every speaker at that conference. I learned to “lean in “ well before it was trendy, & we were encouraged to think about who was on our personal board of directors. For some reason this concept of my board of directors has remained central in my mind. In the last twenty years my board of directors has expanded, but remains more important than ever. Here, in the most vulnerable, manner ever is my positional board of directors: Tom burns-hippy jeweler, for teaching me the value of authenticity Kate McDonough for teaching me that I can be wrong. You are incredible & I’m grateful that you have the tenacity to continue to prove me wrong Sarah Button is the most beautiful & amazing human ever Marisol Incle for teaching me the value of setting expectations, walking the walk, & believing in me Mullainy Fine for being my ride or die forever L. Raymond M. the late, great, music loving lawyer Wendy Brown for never shying away from hard questions Amy Dichard for being a person I’ve never been able to read, but is smarter than everyone else in the room I admire you all, & I hope that you know just how important you’ve been to me.

Is there a brand that you are loyal to? One that you will drive further for, spend more on, or just never even consider their competitor? Yesterday, we talked about this with the sales leadership team at Thumbtack and what we can learn as we build a brand identity for our team and ourselves. A few of our favorite brands and takeaways: ✨ Legos - consistent and reliable. You never have to worry about a Lego breaking or fitting together, you just focus on what you can create. ✨Home Depot - expert service. No matter what aisle you are in, there’s someone there to help. ✨”Row the Boat” - everyone has to do their part to make sure we are moving forward and in the right direction. ✨Do everything with purpose, on purpose.

It's been a long journey but we're excited to announce that Cranberry Way will be rebranded with our new company name: Castaway & Company, where we are shaping Courageous Leaders and Contagious Cultures. We are culture architects and organizational consultants working with c-suite leaders to design programs and initatives to excite and engage their teams through the entire employee life cycle. Our focus spans the entire spectrum, from employer branding to delivering comprehensive offboarding and alumni programs. It's about cultivating a culture where every stage of the employee journey is valued and optimized. Our website is live but will also morph over time. You can find it by just typing "castawayandcompany.com" into your address bar, check it out below and drop us a line... tell us what you think about the new "US". We have developed some key focuses and one is the emergence of a Young Professionals Network that we're providing and building programs for. To support this network, we're building a group of mentors/coaches who will be teamed up with our young leaders and be their "co-pilot" as we guide them through their journey with us. If you're interested in shaping the lives of young professionals lets connect. We'll be announcing more about this program soon. Lastly, we're excited to announce a new program coming out to offer Life and Career Planning that we've been building. That will be announced in October 2024. This LinkedIn page will change in a few days and I hope you enjoy more of our stories as we make this pivotal shift in our business and focus. "With focus and simplicity...once you get there, you can move mountains" - Steve Jobs

Check out the link to the webinar in the comments. Great insights into CEO succession planning!

In #QuantumProgression, I wrote the chapter "Detach From Your Job Title" because of the important role forward, backward, and lateral moves play in your career progression, particularly if you need to improve your #GenAI acumen. Of course titles matter but when considering new career opportunities that can propel your career, up-skilling (entry or executive) is more important in the long run. Get ready: https://lnkd.in/gfnA9yhj

It is great to see leadership in the field. Dealing with front-line team members should remind leadership of 3 critical keys to success. #1- Your internal customers, especially customer-facing team members, are as important, if not more so than, your external customers. #2 - Empathy is free! Treat others as you want to be treated! When I was starting my career, my mentor told me that you have 2 ears and 1 mouth...listen twice as much as you talk when working cross-functionally with others within the organization. #3- Be humble! Gain your success by helping others reach their goals! Remember, most employees do not leave because of pay but because of the way they are treated or by the culture of their workplace.

The human element versus the HR element. There is a delicate balance to how much to share about yourself at work, or how much to encourage of it with employees. But there is value in creating safe "spaces" and a level of authentic openness that binds people together and creates understandings of each other. We see dealers that open doors to this type of communication and space generating better internal cultures, more loyalty and even increased customer experiences. Something magical happens when people start to share, and care. Put people first and create a space to get to know your teams. Check out the full episode for more insights from our community 👇 https://lnkd.in/efpCEpqc ___ Host: Daniel Govaer Episode Guests: Dimitrius Naylor, Director of Cavender Nissan of San Marcos Karen Byrd, GM of Colonial Volkswagen Subaru Alan Brown, GM of Sam Pack's Five Star Chevrolet #automotiveindustry #diversity #peoplefirst #leadership #dealerships Women of Color Automotive Network (WOCAN) National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers (NAMAD)

Happy Monday Friends! I haven’t posted in a while because honestly, I have been quietly plotting my next move. Like too many of us out there, I was impacted by a layoff in my last role. After countless coffees, meetings, interviews, consulting projects and networking with lovely people who totally dug what I brought to the table yet role/timing/values/etc. didn’t align, I got real with myself. I decided the next chapter MUST do 3 things (otherwise: keep on walkin’): Work stuff: leverage my strategic and creative expertise, expand my network and offer exposure to broader sectors of industry. People stuff: enable connections with dynamic, sharp, kind and genuine people from varied backgrounds whom I can learn from and have FUN with. Life stuff: offer a culture that embodies the values and boundaries I have around family and personal well being. (Probably the toughest ask of the three.) Enter Pinnacle Performance Group, where I recently joined as Director, Consulting + Client Services (check us out below!). Will it be uncomfortable to learn new significant areas of practice beyond retail / product design and development? Yes! (Still consulting there, too). Do I stand to massively stretch and grow? Hell yes! Does Pinnacle pass all my criteria and gut check? ✅ Here’s to everyone navigating change. The landscape looks very different than it did just a few short years ago and can leave you feeling vulnerable - despite how supported, successful or secure you may have felt in the past. I’ve learned that by staying true to YOU, leaning into your network and - most importantly- being open to walking through new doors, you may find really cool things on the other side. Thanks to my peeps for the supportive messages below from Pinnacle’s post 🥰