At some point, you, like every owner, will think about the day you will transition the leadership of your company to a new owner. Today, transitioning may be a low-priority issue on your long-to-do list, or you may be frozen in place because you don’t know how to begin or worry that a transition could damage relationships with people who are important to you. Many owners put off their transitions for these and other reasons until something prompts them to act. In this article we share eight reasons owners decide
One of my favorite proverbs is: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. I believe this to be true in many aspects of life but especially in business transitions. First, every transition involves at least two people: the owner who is leaving and the one who is taking his or her place. And every transition involves several professional business succession advisors because there are legal/contractual elements, tax (and possibly estate planning) considerations, and financial planning assessments. There’s almost always a need
Planning to transition your private business to a successor takes time and intentional perseverance. It takes time to clearly set the goals for your transition, time to paint a picture of the life you want to live after you leave your company, and time for your successor to learn to lead. Transitioning your company is a journey that is done with purpose rather than a “one-and-done” transaction, especially when you put people-first and your vision is to have a family member, business partner(s) or key employee(s) to successfully carry on
As a coach, I help individuals finetune their emotional and social intelligence skills so they can better navigate all sorts of change, conflict, and dynamics. As a Transition Guide, I have the privilege and unique perspective of working with both owners and successors during one of the most life-changing journeys for both: a business transition. In this article let’s look at the value of emotional intelligence for owners in business transitions. In my next article, we’ll examine how emotional intelligence applies to successors in business transitions. Using quick searches on
Transitioning a business to a successor is easy for owners who aren’t interested in the future of the companies they’ve built and believe that leaving behind a trail of broken relationships is just the price of a business transition. Business transitions are not so easy, however, for owners who care deeply about their relationships with the most important people in their lives and want their companies to flourish after they leave. We are privileged to work with owners in the second group and designed The Transition Roadmap Developer™ (TRD) to
“Mom, I need to tell you something… ” These words would set off alarm bells in most parents’ heads, but the ringing can be deafening when they come from the child you always dreamed would take over your business. That dream can shatter when the sentence that follows is: “Running this company is an amazing opportunity for someone, but that someone just isn’t me.” If it’s been your dream to put the successful business you’ve built into the hands of your child(ren), it’s natural to be disappointed or even angry
I attended a workshop for business owners recently and heard many conversations about the search for successors. Several mentioned that because they couldn’t find “the right successor,” to continue their legacy, they were resigned to selling to an outside third party. When these owners explained to me why their children, business partners or longtime key employees weren’t “right,” I left these conversations wondering what ever happened to curiosity? I was tempted to ask, “Are you really open minded in your search for a business successor?” As I recall these conversations,
Believe it or not, tire alignment comes to mind when I see owners stuck between the reality of a business transition with its confusing number of options and cacophony of opinions and the ideal—a business transition that 1) meets their goals and 2) maintains their most important relationships. Mechanics align our cars’ tires so that we reach our chosen destinations safely. As Transition Strategists, we use The Transition Compass to help you reach your chosen business transition destination with your relationships intact. The Symptoms of Misalignment Perhaps you recognize one
The HBO series Succession is a dramatization of the transition of a business from one generation to the next, a morality tale about what can happen when a Generation 1 owner fails to create a coherent plan to pass a business to members of Generation 2. It has been successful with both critics and audiences, receiving nominations for 25 Emmy awards. Millions of viewers have watched the Roy family do everything wrong, destroying relationships while driving the family business to the brink of disaster. Succession planning done right may not
