Mark D. Linsz, Co-Founder and Senior Managing Partner and Dr. Leslie W. Braksick, Co-Founder and Senior PartnerIn an interview with the editorial team of Manage HR, Linsz, Co-Founder and Senior Managing Partner, and Dr. Braksick, Co-Founder and Senior Partner, discuss at length how their company ingrains clarity and enhanced capability into highly individualized career transition services.
Please provide a brief overview of your company.
Dr. Braksick: My Next Season is just as our company name suggests: helping executives prepare for and navigate career transitions so they find success, fulfillment, and purpose in what they do next. Whether it be preparing for an even bigger job or leaving your life-long work and moving to your next phase of life, MyNextSeason customizes executive development and retirement transition offerings in support of the unique needs and situations each client faces. Our advisors are all retired executives who have held these senior most roles and know what it takes and what it means to transition. Each is certified in our advising and coaching methodology which combined with their own experiences provides an unparalleled form of support for leaders who deserve the best.
What are some of the major challenges CHROs, leaders, and young professionals face with career transitions?
Linsz: One of the most pressing challenges in succession planning is posed by outgoing executives, who are often in a quandary over what to do next. We step in to help such executives accelerate their transition to a fulfilling next season.
My Next Season is just as our company name suggests helping executives prepare for and navigate career transitions so they find success,fulfillment, and purpose in what they do next
Dr. Braksick: All of our clients conduct regular talent assessments as the board requires them to ascertain their leadership bench strength and evaluate their depth of talent. We partner very closely with CHROs to understand, anticipate, and help build their organizations’ bench strength to align with the strategies they are pursuing. For example, one of the companies we are working with has a president succession in two years and a CEO succession in four years. We are coaching the CHRO to lead this important strategic development process; providing executive development for the top six execs being groomed for bigger roles; supporting the board as they prepare for/work through the long timeline of CEO succession favoring an internal candidate for succession; and coach the sitting CEO and President to lead most effectively as they groom young talent and prepare for their own career transitions. All of this helps the sitting executives perform even more effectively in their current roles.
What is the approach you take to prepare your clients for their next career transition?
Dr. Braksick: We follow discrete approaches based on the needs of executives preparing for an internal or external career move.
If executives are looking to transition to a new role within their company, we assess the individual’s capability with the understanding of the strategic requirements of the (new) role.
We pair the executives with a 1:1 advisor and supplement with focus area tutorials delivered by external experts, who are former or current directors of other companies and newly retired executives on topics such as: presenting to investors, preparing for earnings calls, working with your Board, leading culture change.
Could you cite a client success story?
Linsz: We helped one of our clients, a large financial services company, wherein their CEO was transitioning out of the company, and a number of executives were preparing for new senior roles in different divisions of the company.
We worked closely with the CHRO and the board to provide advising support to the outgoing CEO.
We helped him discern and prepare for his next season by helping him shift his focus to “what’s next” and explore areas of interest such as board work, not-forprofit work, coaching, consulting, etc.By leveraging this intentional process as part of our retirement transitions offering, we worked one-on-one with and successfully guided the outgoing CEO. Additionally, we helped the client with new leader assimilation as incoming executives took up new responsibilities and provided ongoing coaching when they transitioned to higher roles within the company.
What, according to you, steers you ahead of the market competition?
Linsz: What we hear most often from our clients is their appreciation for our advisors who have all “been there, done that” when it comes to what our clients are facing. They treasure the deep understanding our advisors have of their situation, and the incredible wisdom they can impart while also helping them gain greater capability to navigate it independently in the future. Our corporate partners tell us over and over again, how much they appreciate your offerings in support of both outgoing and incoming leaders in their career transition journey. It allows for a seamless, yet independent and individually trusting relationship for each client but with the same provider who is connected with the strategic needs of the company and expectations of the board.
What does the future look like for My Next Season?
Dr. Braksick: We are always innovating in the spaces where we play. We remain on the cutting edge of executive development work, having just released a 2020-21 study: Preparing CEOs for Success: Insights from CEOs and Directors which has important guidance for executive development and c-suite succession. Our fastest growing line of business for early career professionals helps them find purpose and accelerate their career progression. Three of the major banks are offering this program to their clients as part of their preferred rewards programs. Our retirement transition support is now helping clients as early as ten years prior to transition ensuring they use the last decade of their careers as wisely as possible. No other company has the career transition laser focus, at all points on the continuum that MyNextSeason does.
