Tweet

9 Steps to Succession Success

Written by: Sandy Blaha

Article Overview: When it comes to the planning for the transition of a business, good things do not come to those who wait. Those who do often find themselves feeling the pressure of a ticking clock, caught between needing to move quickly and immobilization. Good agents understand that long-term success means more than selling insurance for immediate needs; it means keeping an eye on that clock for clients’ businesses as well as their own agencies. They begin to think of insurance in a different light: insurance for the business’ legacy. If you are thinking about, and planning for, the next phase of your – or your client’s – firm, taking the following steps will help you move quickly toward the goal, and assure smoother sailing in the process.

9 Steps to Succession Success

When it comes to the planning for the transition of a business, good things do not come to those who wait. Those who do often find themselves feeling the pressure of a ticking clock, caught between needing to move quickly and immobilization.

As the first cohort of the baby boomer generation edges toward retirement age, more and more owners of small- and mid-sized businesses are trying to figure out how to phase back. Many want their businesses to continue, but without the full-time commitment to day-to-day operations they have been used to giving.

Good agents understand that long-term success means more than selling insurance for immediate needs; it means keeping an eye on that clock for clients’ businesses as well as their own agencies. They begin to think of insurance in a different light: insurance for the business’ legacy.

If you are thinking about, and planning for, the next phase of your – or your client’s – firm, taking the following steps will help you move quickly toward the goal, and assure smoother sailing in the process.

1. Know your ABCs
Business owners whole-heartedly agree that their companies started to significantly move forward once they learned to let go of the “C” players and develop effective performance management and coaching processes. It may be difficult to do at first – and it will mean development of conflict resolution skills – but it will pay off.

2. Pay attention to the alpha dog
Businesses also may need to say goodbye to “A” players, where “A” stands for “alpha.” Alpha employees interact well with clients, are high producers, and work hard, but exhibit abusive behavior within the firm, can be bullies, and often serve as stumbling blocks to succession success.

What to do? Identify these individuals, give them a chance to change, and then help them to separate with ease if it doesn’t work out. The people a business owner wants to become buyers of his or her firm will not be interested if it means inheriting alphas.

3. Understand that the proof is in the…projects
Business owners must grant project ownership only when a person has proved his or her leadership abilities. The proof is in strategic learning project assignments for up-and-coming next-generation leaders. These projects will give them the opportunities to prove that they can move from project managers to company leaders.

4. Become a decision-maker
A business’ next generation of leaders will need a methodology for making decisions, practice in making difficult decisions together, and a model to follow. It is important to set a good example for decision-making, so owners who are not decisive persons will be wise to obtain coaching in that area. If not, they can expect stagnation, delays, and discouraged personnel.

5. Be a talent scout
Business owners often can not identify the right talent mix for their firm’s next leadership team. How is the world changing? What kind of leaders will the firm need? To succeed in the future, the next team may require different skills, sensitivities, and attributes than the owner needed. Focusing on the vision of the company, business owners must think carefully about what they really need from their leaders today as well as three-five years from now. Professional assessment tools can go a long way to help identify the best talent.


6. Consider a sale
If business owners are not ready to let go and share authority, or if they have tried several times and failed (perhaps losing key employees in the process), they may be better off being honest with themselves about a legacy. Selling a business to a third party may be a viable option.

7. Take your time
Once identified, the future president of the company must be a leader – someone people will follow. This person needs time to demonstrate his or her abilities, judgment, leadership style, and interactions with people. Business owners who are humble enough and vulnerable enough to listen and change, and recognize that they will need to hone change skills during this process, will be most successful in the succession process.

8. Avoid parity of power
While the next-generation team must make decisions and learn together, “equality for all” can spell disaster. Each person should not necessarily have the same amount of stock or the power as the next. The executive team will eventually pare itself down to the two or three people everyone trusts. Ideally, a next-generation president should be appointed by consensus, based on his or her track record of leadership and ability to gain peer confidence.

9. Identify and correct fatal flaws
Smart owners will check their behavior and leadership ability for these three fatal flaws in transition planning:
• The inability to set direction.
• The inability to align critical constituencies.
• The inability to adapt to changing circumstances.

The ability to grow beyond one’s flaws is an important part of leadership – one that needs to be part of the current owner’s work as well as the next-generation leadership team’s.

As the first cohort of baby boomers edges toward retirement age, the industry likely will see a huge supply of businesses changing hands and coming on the market for sale over the next 10 years. Those agents who have the foresight to look ahead and serve as true leaders for their clients and their own businesses will be those who succeed.

Managing a company, identifying leadership needs, and handling development of new leaders is a challenging task with risks and rewards to match. Paying heed to the steps identified here, and utilizing tools and advisors as needed, will set the tone for a smooth and effective transition in leadership.

Related Articles
  Guess What? Succession Planning is not Rocket Science
  “Do You Know Where Your Succession Plan Is? And Do You Know What To Do If You Can’t Find It?”
  Succession Planning - Vital For Your Business At All Levels
  Succession planning myths and realities
  Succession Planning - Your Route To Sustainable Business Success

Article Tags: abusive behavior, alpha alpha, alphas, baby boomer, baby boomer generation, bullies, business owner, business owners, cohort, conflict resolution skills, effective performance management, pay attention, retirement age, sailing, selling insurance, sized businesses, succession, term success, ticking clock, time commitment



Related Forum Posts
Re: Success - I study success intently, and would like to share: Here's two excellent and nearly identical success-formulas from a couple of the world's masters. FIRST FORMULA: 1. Passionate Desire 2. Clear, Definite Purpose 3. Committed Decision 4. Take Action In Faith (Bonus Secret Sauce: 5. Repeat Consistently) I made a video about this, but am not allowed to link it yet. Google "Ryze Success Steps" for it. Oh, and this is Napoleon Hill's (Master Of Success Laws)'s Formula. SECOND FORMULA: 1. Passionate Desire 2. Understand It Is Already Done (Faith) 3. Relax & Allow It To Unfold (Go about your life calmly) This one is courtesy of Abraham-Hicks (inspiration for the movie The Secret). Hope that helps!
Re: Drop out Billionaire - I reveived Bill Bartmann's DVD "9 Steps To Achieve Any Goal" as part of my monthly pack from Success University a few months back. It is a great presentation. I've watched it several times but not for a while so I'll view it again in the coming week. He is one of the greats. Like the best success mentors, he speaks with authority because he has come through much tribulation. His program sounds like a great bargain at $100 a year.
Success Strategies - How to get the results you want now? Success Strategies and Action Steps I have used are: The Power of Choice Where you are at this present moment, is exactly perfect from the choices you have made. If you want to be somewhere else, you have to decide clearly what that is (your goal/outcome) and create action steps to achieve this. The Power of Focus The book "The Power of Focus" by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Les Hewitt, is one of my treasures in my Entrepreneur Library. If you focus on what you want versus what you do not want, your conscious and sub-conscious mind will direct attention to this. The movie, What the Bleep, Down the Rabbit Hole, explains this in detail about quantum physics and what we create in our lives. The Power of Commitment This is not about commitment to others. The first step is the commitment, your word, you make to yourself. Accountability and responsibility are additional success strategies and ingredients to creating the success, defined by you, that you want. The commitment to others reflects your integrity, your word and the team you work with. Co-workers, clients, yoru family, friends and community. My Success Acronyn in Success Breakthroughs(c) is: S pecific & self-directed U nlimited opportunities & possibilities C reate powerful outcomes C onsistent measureable results E xperience pwoerful transformation S olution and action-oriented S uccessful habits and outcomes Break Through to Powerful LIfestyle & Performance Choices Moira
Re: THE SECRET TO SUCCESS IS ALL IN YOUR HEAD...RIGHT NOW!!! - Success = Thinking (Head) + Heart (Feeling / Interest) + Hand (doing/ action). Success - H3 Robert
New Guy Here - Automobile Industry - Hi Everyone, My name is Ray and I work as a sales trainer in the automobile industry. I have just completed a new training curriculum for automobile salespeople in the industry. It is called The Baby Steps of Selling Automobiles. I am beginning my marketing efforts through press releases and seminar formats. I joined the community due to my continued desire to work independently creating my own happiness and growth. Thank you for having me and I look forward to more correspondence in the future.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

A New Year in the Pharmaceutical Industry

How to Set Sales Goals that Work

Maximum Impact Restaurant Greening

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.