He nodded toward the documents.
“You did.”
The room became quiet.
“I built this company,” he continued, “but building something isn’t enough. Eventually, you have to decide who you trust to carry it forward.”
I swallowed hard.
“And you trust me?”
“If I didn’t, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
I looked down at the paperwork again.
“So what’s the condition?”
Richard smiled.
“The real condition?”
I nodded.
“Never call me ‘boss’ again.”
For a moment, I simply stared at him.
Then I laughed.
Everyone else did too.
A month later, Richard officially stepped away from the company’s day-to-day management.
The transition wasn’t magically easy.
Becoming an executive director didn’t suddenly mean I knew everything.
In fact, during my first few weeks, I probably asked more questions than I had during the previous year.
There were contracts I needed to understand, financial reports I had never been responsible for reviewing, and decisions that affected dozens of employees.
