Journey to the Top

“If you see a decent gas station pull in. Sorry but I need to use the restroom again.” Greta was trying some hydrating diet to get skinny so we were having to stop about every 50 miles in order for her to use the facility. We were on one of our many trips to the low country to share our trail planning skills. This is perhaps the craziest memory I have of the twenty-five plus years Greta and I traveled through the southeast planning, designing, and retrofitting trails in cities where previous transportation planning had all been car centric. (I did ask Greta to leave her gallon jug of water at home on future trips.)

A couple of years earlier, Greta had come to me with the idea of forming her own planning and design firm to serve PATH’s needs. I encouraged her to proceed with her plans and KAIZEN Collaborative was born.

We learned a lot from each other on these trips. Greta absorbed everything I knew about building trails and I learned a lot about planning and design. We tagteamed our presentations; Greta dazzled the crowds with her planning and design skills, and I would tell about my successful journey at PATH. We were an awesome team, which brings me to the subject of this musing: Greta was the only choice for my successor when I retired.

When a director of 30 years steps down, more often than not, organizations like PATH hire a search firm at a considerable cost, to scour the country for a suitable replacement. The person selected may be good at interviewing, have a great personality, and have the necessary skillset for the job, but lack the passion that was present when the organization was founded. Greta not only has the needed skillset, she developed a passion for doing the job long before it was offered to her.

Our other choice was to promote somebody from within to lead PATH. As many of you know PATH had exactly three full time employees, including me. Fellow-founder Pete Pellegrini certainly knows how to build trails and has the necessary passion, but promoting him to director would have left his position open, creating a huge void in the organization’s ability to deliver trails. Two out of three people would have been new to their jobs.

There are so many reasons our board chose Greta to replace me when I retired. For over twenty years, everyone had witnessed firsthand, her skills and passion for trails. She also had all the ‘pedigrees’ in city planning and landscape architecture that I never had. And then there’s the fact that she was my first choice of candidates to succeed me. She’s persistent: more than once I had to kick her under the table in meeting with municipal officials for not taking no for an answer.

I’m proud of the decision we made to bring Greta on board as long as she leaves the water jug behind.