What Happens When the Leader Goes Down?

A friend asked me a tough question recently:
"Rusty, how did your company survive while you were out? That must’ve been incredibly disruptive."

It was.
And it wasn’t.

Several years ago, that question would’ve triggered a wave of worry:

• Would payroll get processed?

• Are clients still being taken care of?

• Will the team stay focused and engaged?

• Is the business too dependent on me?

That fear led to action.
In 2018, we made a decision to stop building a business around a person and start building one around a plan.

We started contingency planning.
We built redundancies.
We cross-trained.
And we created something simple but powerful: a Communication Tree.

So when I recently faced an unexpected medical crisis, here’s what happened:

• My wife Pam and I alerted our leadership team.

• They activated the plan.

• Kimbra rescheduled my week of meetings.

• Heather kept our team updated, and stepped in with clients and prospects on my behalf.

• Curtis made sure billing, vendor payments, and payroll never skipped a beat.

The company didn’t pause.
In many ways, it got stronger.

Lesson for fellow business owners and CEOs:
If your company can’t run without you, then it’s not ready to grow beyond you.
Contingency planning isn’t pessimism — it’s stewardship.

Build depth before it’s needed.
Because leadership isn’t just about what you can do.
It’s about what your team can carry when you no longer can.