Your predecessor walked on water

It is always hard to follow a charismatic and popular leader. We generally expect the successor to be a “sacrificial lamb” that won't stay long. If they did their job well they will have prepared their group for a successor and made the transition as easy as possible, and then disappeared, resisting the temptation to interfere. That doesn't always happen.

• The suggestions in the introductory post on the subject apply in Spades, in this case.
• I want to emphasize the importance of acknowledging “what a wonderful person he/she” was. And “I'm sure, that if he/she were here they would want you to support me and help keep the program going strong.”
• Make changes carefully and quietly