Every Executive Should Leave

I don’t mean that like it sounds. What I mean is… well, I am currently preparing for my FMLA leave (aka maternity leave). The doctor has basically said that baby number two can come any day now.

Knowing that you will be gone for say, 12 weeks or so, forces you to look at what you do and ask yourself “who else can do this?” and then you must take the next step and articulate what it is you do, how you do it and train someone else to do it in your absence.

I didn’t have that luxury the first time around. Ten weeks before my due date, my first decided to speed things up a bit. (two years later she is still an impatient sort of girl). I am finding it incredibly helpful and beneficial to go through this process.

The most important thing that I have learned is that there are folks here that have real talents for things that I never suspected (who knew, Paul, our Northgate Relationship Manager, would be so good at writing radio commercials?!) I have also taken a hard look at some of the things I periodically take care of and determined that it would be more cost effective for the credit union for someone else to do them. And, I hate to admit it, there have been one or two things, that upon closer inspection, I realized, don’t really need done at all.

As I prepare to rush off at a moment’s notice, I look around my office and see a clean desk, clear instructions for other to follow, and a host of my colleagues that are now cross-trained on my duties. I know there is always grumbling when women take maternity leave. I can understand that. We definitely leave a void when we are gone and force to other others to work harder. But as I sit here, looking at my color coded new filing system, I wonder if it doesn’t do a bit of good too.