The Most Useful Way to Begin Succession Planning
Christian Muntean
Advisor for rapid growth, scaling, succession and exits | Author | Speaker | Executive Coach | CEPA
Carla was tired. And stressed. She hadn’t slept well last night. For that matter – she hadn’t slept well all week. She couldn’t focus.
William had just told her that he intended to retire within the year. He would announce this to the board at their meeting next week. He wanted her to take over for him. She surprised herself with how much this news has impacted her. And not in a good way.
It shouldn’t have been a shock. William recently turned 63. His health was fine but his wife’s wasn’t. They had talked openly about wanting to be closer to their kids – who had moved to the big city several hours away. William had recently bought a condo there, in fact.
As Carla thought about it, she realized the signs had been there. She hadn’t been willing to read them.
William was the company. At least that’s how it felt. He started Western Solutions, a niche manufacturing company, thirty years earlier. He had grown it to nearly 300 employees and a strong reputation for quality and innovation.
Carla had been with Western for nearly fifteen years. Five years ago, William converted it into an employee-owned company but retained his position as President & CEO. Carla, who was currently the COO, eventually became vice-chair of the board. But really, William still ran the company. And did it well.
Now he was leaving. And Carla wasn’t ready. She wasn’t sure the company was either.
Was she ready to take over? Was it even William’s decision to make? What would the others think? Where would she lead the company?
William had always been a collaborative leader. She had always felt included in the “big” decisions. But having William involved had always provided some kind of “emotional safety net”. Ultimately, he made the decisions. And he usually made good ones.
She was grateful that William had expressed confidence in her. But she wasn’t feeling it about herself right now.
A Few Simple Tools That Will Help Carla Out
In the scenario above, Western doesn’t have a succession plan in place. It would be nice if they did. Carla would sleep better at night. Her energy would be focused. The board would already be “on board”. Everyone could focus on creating a smooth transition as opposed to figuring out how to transition.
The good news is that even though a plan doesn’t exist, there is still time to pull one together.
William announced his retirement to the board. While he had privately communicated his desire for Carla to lead, he wisely decided not to try to influence the board’s decision.
The board shared Carla’s initial shock. Even though most of the directors said they suspected this was coming – they had kept hoping it would be “not yet”. But here they were.
Over the next couple of weeks, the directors digested the information. The term “bittersweet” was often used – but mostly it tasted bitter. To be honest, grief might be the best word to describe how many felt. That on its own was kind of confusing.
Ernie, one of the officers, said his friend's company recently went through succession. It had been successful. According to his friend, one exercise had been particularly helpful: They defined who they were as a company and the future they wanted beyond the transition.
Apparently, just having that in place made a lot of leadership succession questions easier to answer.
He suggested that they follow the same process.
How Clear Values and Vision Help Succession Planning
Organizational values are a way of describing what is most important for an organization.
Values are the central ingredients of your organization’s culture. When well utilized, they help the organization and would-be successors look at each other and determine, “Are we a good fit?”
They help a diverse group of people develop alignment around attitudes and behaviors that are expected. They create a framework for determining your priorities and guiding decision-making.
During succession, this helps provide cultural continuity and consistency. That, on its own, reduces anxiety during change, increases focus, and supports a sense of “togetherness”.
Organizational vision is a way of describing, “Who we want to become” or, “What we want to accomplish” It provides a focus for goal setting and activity. It provides an important framework for measuring progress or results.
In succession, a successor should be chosen based on their ability to move the organization towards the vision. This is why it often helps to define the vision before a successor is chosen.
What Value and Vision Offer to The Succession Process:
2. Build a filter to screen for the best candidate.
Next Steps for Western Manufacturing
It took an investment of time and resources. Carla recommended to the board that they take time to build a succession plan. And to start that not by focusing on the transition – but by focusing on the future.
Ernie was able to contact the consultant who helped his friend’s company. Through a series of meetings, some of which included employee input, they began to draft out their Values and Vision.
Initially, Carla felt apprehensive about this conversation. “Will everything change?” “Will I still want to be part of this organization if there is change?” “Can I lead that change if they ask me to?”
She was surprised to learn how much the board and staff had in common. Agreement around values came much more quickly than they expected. This was true around their vision as well.
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At times the conversations were intense. And not everyone agreed on details. And they were by no means done with the succession planning process.
But in the big picture, nearly everyone was on the same page.
This was an enormous relief to Carla. The work that was put into defining who we are and what we want to accomplish felt challenging – but gave her focus. Carla still doesn’t know if she will be the successor. But in terms of leading the board through the decision-making process – she feels confident and has focus.
Given the growth that their vision calls for – they realized their next two steps:
Western Manufacturing has just started its succession planning. But a clear sense of their Values and Vision will make all of the following steps that much easier.
If you are exploring succession planning, stay tuned to the next steps of Western Manufacturing.
Take good care,
Christian
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Be prepared for a smooth transition in the event of an unplanned emergency?succession. My guide will show you step-by-step how to devise your own plan.
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