It's hard for a long-time board president to feel at ease about retiring, especially one who did most of the work. Many board members are capable, offer ideas, etc., but they are content to let the president coordinate and do everything. Designate more work or ask them to volunteer for a task - overseeing a project, writing a memo to residents, etc. Make use of their skills and talents. Let them know you won't be on the board much longer and give the dedicated ones a chance to step up to the plate.

Some presidents don't want to disclose that they'll be retiring. This often happens if there's a fear of SHs with personal agendas taking over or where no one seems interested in being on the board. Another way to start making a transition is to talk to SHs you think would be good board members. Encourage them to run. Tell SHs who are CPAs or other professionals how valuable their service on the board could be for the coop.

Also look for prospects who are "people" persons, no matter what work they do. It's good to have board members who can deal well with SHs. Some people are good with numbers, coming up with new ideas or formulating strategies for the future but they may not be good communicators. The board as a whole should communicate, keep SHs informed, etc, and having one or more board members who can do this on a one-to-one basis with SHs in an open, receptive manner is always a plus.

I've retired from several boards after a long term of service. I've sought out good replacements before I retired. Sometimes they're not easy to find but it's worth the effort. None of us want to put a lot of ourselves into something and worry about how it will be handled in future especially if we still have a big investment in it.

To Cathy who asked about retiring from her board: no one is indispensable and your coop will go on without you. But it can be hard to let go. One last suggestion. Before you retire, try to ensure some "continuity" for your board. In time people learn, but it's a big mistake to turn over governance to a team consisting only of SHs who don't really understand what a coop is yet, have been in a building for only a very short time and/or have no one with experience to help them learn and move in the right directions.

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Bravo, BP! Great answer.

In fact, what you describe is eerily close to how I became president of our co-op. The former president recruited me onto the board, where I spent two years learning a lot and taking on a couple of projects that interested me. At the beginning of the third year, right after the Annual Meeting, the former president announced he was stepping down and asked me to replace him. He had told NO ONE of his decision in advance, so we were all somewhat startled.

The former president remained on the board for a final year to ease the transition, which was very helpful. I would suggest that the original poster do the same.

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Now there's some good advice. One of the most interesting things BP says is something that leadership and management books all say to do but almost no one does, which is to get a variety of types of people on a team. Too often, boards (and corporate offices) work on how buddy-buddy people are. Obviously, you don't want a misanthropist in the mix, but having board-members who aren't like you helps to generate new and different ideas. Like BP says, you want a people person, a numbers person, a details person, a big-picture person, etc. You can't have all one kind.

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