Honkers, Not Critics: Helping Former Leaders Keep Serving After the Title Is Gone
By Chad Edwards
Author of Cheap Seats: What Happens After the Title Is Gone?
Every organization has them.
The former chief.
The former city manager.
The former department head.
The former mayor.
The former council member.
The former board president.
The person who once carried the weight of the decision, sat at the head of the table, received the phone calls, and knew what was happening before everyone else did.
Then one day, the title changes.
Someone else sits in the chair.
The phone stops ringing as often.
The meetings happen without them.
The organization keeps moving.
And that transition can be harder than many people expect.
I wrote Cheap Seats: What Happens After the Title Is Gone? after stepping away from my role as a school board president. I had spent years in public service, the fire service, athletics, community leadership, and other roles where responsibility becomes part of your identity. But leaving leadership taught me something I was not fully prepared for:
The title can disappear faster than the identity does.
That is not only true in school boards.
It is true in city halls.
It is true in police and fire departments.
It is true in public works, finance, administration, emergency management, utilities, and every other corner of local government where people spend years serving something bigger than themselves.
The challenge is not only helping new leaders step in.
It is helping former leaders step back well.
The Lesson from Geese
A friend once shared a lesson with me about geese.
When geese fly together, they do not depend on one bird to carry the front forever. The lead bird eventually rotates back, and another bird moves forward. The one that moves back does not leave the formation. It does not criticize the new lead bird for flying differently. It does not abandon the flock because it is no longer out front.
It keeps flying.
And from behind, it honks.
That image has stayed with me.
Because every leader eventually has to move from the front of the formation to somewhere else.
The question is what they do when they get there.
Do they become critics?
Or do they become honkers?
The Danger of the Cheap Seats
There is a difference between wisdom and criticism.
There is a difference between institutional knowledge and control.
There is a difference between caring about the organization and needing the organization to still revolve around you.
Many former leaders do not intend to become difficult. They do not set out to undermine the next person. Often, they still care deeply. They still see risks. They still remember why certain decisions were made. They still know the history.
That experience matters.
But when experience is filtered through ego, it can become dangerous.
A former leader can unintentionally become the loudest voice in the cheap seats.
They can question every decision.
They can compare every new leader to the way things used to be.
They can turn institutional memory into a weapon.
They can make it harder for the next leader to lead.
And in local government, where relationships, trust, and continuity matter so much, that can damage more than morale. It can affect culture, succession, public confidence, and the organization’s ability to serve well.
Former Leaders Still Matter
The answer is not to ignore former leaders.
It is not to push them out.
It is not to treat their experience as irrelevant.
In fact, organizations are healthier when they find meaningful ways to honor and use the wisdom of people who have carried responsibility before.
Former leaders can be some of the most valuable people in an organization or community.
They know the history.
They understand the weight.
They have made hard calls.
They have lived through crises, transitions, mistakes, and lessons that newer leaders have not yet experienced.
But their role has to change.
They are no longer there to control the mission.
They are there to support it.
That requires humility from the former leader and intentionality from the organization.
How Organizations Can Help Former Leaders Leave Well
Local governments spend a lot of time thinking about succession planning, recruitment, retention, and leadership development. Those things matter. But succession planning should not only focus on who steps in next.
It should also focus on how people step away.
A healthy transition should include honest conversations about identity, influence, communication, and expectations.
Before a leader leaves, organizations should ask:
What knowledge needs to be passed on?
What relationships need to be transferred?
What decisions or history need to be documented?
What role, if any, should this person continue to play?
Where could their experience still serve the organization without undermining the next leader?
Those questions matter because ambiguity creates tension.
When former leaders do not know where they fit, they often create their own role.
Sometimes that role is helpful.
Sometimes it is not.
How Former Leaders Can Become Honkers
For the leader leaving the chair, the work is deeply personal.
It requires asking hard questions:
Can I support the next leader even if they do things differently?
Can I give advice without needing control?
Can I celebrate progress that does not have my fingerprints on it?
Can I stay helpful without needing to be important?
Can I let the mission move forward without me at the center?
That is the real test of leadership after the title is gone.
The goal was never to be needed forever.
The goal was to leave the organization healthy enough that it could keep moving without you.
That does not make your service less meaningful.
It proves your service mattered.
The Mission Keeps Moving
Local government is built on continuity.
Administrators change.
Chiefs retire.
Council members rotate off.
Department heads move on.
Employees promote, transfer, or leave.
But the community still needs water, streets, emergency response, public safety, permits, parks, planning, budgets, and leadership.
The mission keeps moving.
That is why the way leaders leave matters.
A leader who leaves poorly can create confusion, resentment, division, and dependence.
A leader who leaves well can create confidence, stability, trust, and space for the next generation to lead.
That is the difference between becoming a critic and becoming a honker.
One sits in the cheap seats and complains about the flight.
The other keeps encouraging the flock forward.
Every leader eventually leaves the chair.
The question is whether they leave behind dependence or strength.
And when their time at the front is over, the best leaders keep serving.
Not by trying to take the lead again.
But by helping the formation keep flying.
