Not all the lessons Lifewater has learned about how to operate more effectively have occurred overseas. Some have happened back home in Canada. The most painful of them stemmed from the death of Jim Gehrels, Lifewater Canada’s president and co-founder.
Jim suffered a fatal heart attack in July 2020. Before then, he and his wife Lynda (now Lifewater’s president) led the organization almost entirely by themselves — each of them volunteering at least 40 hours a week with help from a part-time accountant and several part-time volunteers.
Jim and Lynda strongly believed in having a good digital filing system, and invested many hours in documenting processes, procedures, and lots of other Lifewater essentials — including long-term strategic plans. But when Jim died, Lynda and the Lifewater board suddenly realized how much Lifewater knowledge had died with him.
She was left struggling to, for example, understand his plans (and preliminary discussions with supplier) for a new Lifewater database. During the next few months, Lynda contracted an expert to work with the supplier in developing a database that will carry Lifewater into its next level of growth and development.
Lynda also succeeded, with her board’s support, in gradually hiring four full-time employees, and four part-time employees or contractors over the next few years to share the load of leading Lifewater. All eight work from their homes in various parts of Canada and stay connected on a daily and even minute-to-minute basis using a variety of audio, video, and file-sharing technologies.
What everyone at Lifewater learned from Jim’s tragic passing is the importance of constantly documenting and updating information so that if a member of the team can’t carry on, the information is there for others to continue.
Lifewater’s leaders are focused on making the “new” team structure even very robust and durable — including through cross-training everyone on important tasks, and regularly updating strategic plans — to be well-prepared for the threat of losing a key member or other potential crises.
