Caryn Lerman, Director of Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center at Keck Medicine of USC, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“‘What the Duck! When You’re No Longer Handing Out Money and Space.
I am in my final months as cancer center director.
It’s called the ‘lame duck period’—an 18th century term for stockbrokers who couldn’t pay their debts and waddled away. Not my situation, but the waddling away part seems right.
Here’s what I’m noticing:
Fewer people are asking to meet. Requests that would have come to me are rightly (and thankfully) being held for my successor. Not surprising at all.
Organizational culture is often transactional. Can you fund my project? Expand my lab space? Give me a new title? When the answer becomes ‘not now,’ the dynamic changes fast. But the people who valued the relationship—not just the resources—are still showing up.
Meanwhile, I’m shifting from operator to steward. Not making major changes. Not building new programs. Instead, I’m ensuring that people are prepared for the leadership transition—faculty, staff, donors.
The accomplishments we’ve made don’t disappear because I’m moving on.
There’s also something freeing about this lame duck period. Less politics. Fewer performative meetings. More time for research, and mentoring.
If you’re entering your own lame duck period, you probably already know which friendships and collaborations will last. The rest?
They belonged to the role. So don’t take it personally when people move on. They’re just being efficient. Save your energy for the relationships that were never about what you could do for them.
The role ends. The real connections don’t.”
More posts featuring Caryn Lerman.