Arianna Huffington: When a Namesake Leaves the Company

The Huffington Post without Arianna Huffington? It’s happening—and the shift might be worth looking at for the potential leadership lessons.

Huffington, the editor-in-chief of the Pulitzer-winning news site, announced her departure from the massive online news and entertainment website on Thursday. Her plan? She’s refocusing her career around another passion of hers.

I thought HuffPost would be my last act. But I’ve decided to step down as HuffPost’s editor-in-chief to run my new venture, Thrive Global.

— Arianna Huffington (@ariannahuff) August 11, 2016  (opens in a new tab)

Huffington will move to lead her new startup, Thrive Global  (opens in a new tab), full time. The company, which is focused on improving productivity and work-life balance, with an emphasis on the value of sleep, recently ended its first round of funding.

“One of the Thrive principles is knowing when it’s time for a new chapter to begin, and for me that time has arrived,” Huffington wrote in a letter to the staff  (opens in a new tab) of The Huffington Post.

It was a bit of a surprise—Huffington’s contract had her in the editor-in-chief position until 2019  (opens in a new tab). However, she’s always had a passion for promoting healthy lifestyles. That translated to the culture she created at HuffPost, which has nap rooms  (opens in a new tab).

The website will continue as a subsidiary of Verizon-owned AOL  (opens in a new tab). As for the specific steps around Huffington’s transition, there is an existing team who will take on editorial requirements while they search for Huffington’s replacement.

While some have gripes about The Huffington Post, Huffington’s accomplishments, including a daily readership of more than 178 million  (opens in a new tab) and the already-mentioned Pulitzer Prize, should be recognized  (opens in a new tab).

“We are very solid in our DNA, what we stand for,” Huffington said of The Huffington Post.

A great leader can help ensure their DNA sticks around long after they’ve left the building for the final time.

Tweet of the Day

Listening tip: Don’t start thinking of your response while the speaker is talking. https://t.co/kgfZCIeKTD  (opens in a new tab) #assnchat  (opens in a new tab) pic.twitter.com/jzDZKjVn3U  (opens in a new tab)

— DelCor (@delcor) August 11, 2016  (opens in a new tab)

Many of us do this. We either think of a follow-up question, a rebuttal, or an array of other things (like that long list of things we have to do) when someone’s speaking. And before we know it, we aren’t really listening.

Adopting active listening skills is a strong professional move, helping others feel valued and making you more effective, Allison Coriale argues on Delcor’s blog  (opens in a new tab).

Other Links for Your Day

Do you bother recruiting former members? Focus on your organization’s member benefits and services instead and maybe they’ll come back, Christina Green suggests at Frank J. Kenny’s blog  (opens in a new tab).

Tool of the day. If you need a block of dummy text to see how things would look, Lipsum.pro  (opens in a new tab) is a quick resource just for that purpose.

Don’t discount yourself. Price your work too low and it won’t earn the respect it deserves, Market Domination Media founder and CEO Jonathan Long suggests over at Entrepreneur magazine  (opens in a new tab).

(Penn State/Flickr)