Dorrier Underwood

Doug McVadon (speaker, R) and Mike Watson speaking on Succession Planning at the American Institute for Architects Young Architects Forum in Charlotte, NC on October 12, 2016. Straight-talk about succession planning and leadership transition was on the docket at the American Institute for Architects (AIA) Young Architects Forum event last week in Charlotte, NC and the room was packed. Associates in their 20s and 30s as well as more tenured firm principals were keen to know: What does it take to be “picked” as a possible owner of a firm? And how do current leaders lead that process well, for the people involved and the long term health of the company? It’s not just a topic relegated to architecture. Healthy organizations across industries and around the world know that succession doesn’t happen accidentally, at least not succession that ensures the strongest future. For two hours, Michael Watson (principal, Watson Tate Savory architecture) and Doug McVadon (p...

We talk  a lot about the definition of integrity, practices for integrity and restoring integrity. One thing became clear for me this week: integrity is nothing more than workability. It doesn’t have to exist in any specialized language. We all know whether something works, or not--a conversation, a meeting, a paragraph--and we all know when, instead, it falls flat, misses the mark, fails to communicate. Fred said he would call me, and we had scheduled the call for 5pm, weeks in advance.  It was in our calendars. I turned down two other requests from people: “Sorry, I have a call right at five.” It was to be an important conversation, so I was trying to get clear in my own mind what I wanted to discuss, what I would listen for in his voice, what I might ask about, or ask to hear more about. What would Nancy and Jane ask me later that I would regret not finding out? My day was organized around this last business appointment, which might take me until 6 pm....