"Hail and Farewell"

In military circles, there is an interesting celebration that marks the end of one commander’s service and the beginning of another’s. Called “Hail and Farewell” dinners, they are designed to give honor to the departing leader and officially welcome the new leader to his or her new command.
 
It’s interesting that they call them “Hail and Farewell” dinners instead of “Farewell and Hail.” It would make sense to say goodbye before affirming a new leader, and this is often how things go in organizations. But doing the hailing before the farewelling is important – it creates a healthy continuity of leadership so that there’s never a time that the military unit is leaderless.

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