Why It’s Time to Retire Your “Someday” Strategy for Succession
For so many, the question this title poses prompts a bit of a “waffly” denial that, they’ve got a plan, “it’s just not right time.” Even more often, they profusely assure you that they will get to it BUT, “We’re just so busy.” In my experience, it is a perennial goal that gets rolled over year after year. It’s simple, yet not easy to just get started. I’ve walked in those shoes, so I get it!
Here is the problem. This kind of thinking too often results in succession planning becoming the dreaded boulder you have to push up hill. So big, so daunting, you may do just about anything to avoid investing meaningful energy into the process.
This creates a less than virtuous cycle:
- Thought—I really should start planning
- Feeling—Overwhelm? Exasperation? Doubt? Dread? Exhaustion?
- New thought—Not now… I can do this later…we have time.
- Result—Bigger boulder rolling you and your people up in an emotional tangle of unproductive thinking and feelings…and another year gone by.
If succession planning is still on your firm’s “to do” list as 2021 gets underway, read on to learn why it’s time to retire your “someday” strategy and feel better.
You matter. Your legacy matters.
Like most firm owners, I invested my heart and soul in building my former firm over decades. As the years ticked by, my partners and I did feel a sense of urgency to monetize our business. This was enough for us to do some of the basic things necessary to create enterprise value.
Yet, the vision of realizing our dream of financial rewards was not enough motivation to do, what I now recognize, as the most important work of creating a succession ready firm:
A clear and meaningful vision for creating a legacy AND
a vision of what truly matters most to us as people.
Why did this really matter? Without emotional connection to why we had invested our lives in this business and a connection with a vision for legacy that truly resonated, succession planning seemed like yet another chore added to a too long list of urgent and important activities.
We were successful in monetizing. We were not successful in leaving the legacy we truly hoped for.
A legacy with heart—your Triple Win
Building a legacy with heart starts with believing in the value of what you truly want and giving yourself the gift of time for self-reflection. What feels most meaningful to you at this stage of your life and business?
When your self-reflection is followed by courageous, candid conversations between partners, you have laid the first, necessary planks in the foundation of a successful plan for succession.
And that’s why it’s TIME to retire your “Someday” strategy for succession:
- YOU deserve it
- Your TEAM deserves it
- Your CLIENTS deserve it
This is what I call a Triple Win Succession plan.
A win for owners. A win for successors. A win for clients.
If this is the right time for you to lay a solid foundation for succession, I’d love to help!
Clients hire me to guide and support them in becoming Succession Ready. Let’s work together to design a clear path forward starting right where you are.
Click here to download our complimentary report- “5 Questions Business Owners Never Ask and Should, to Create a Succession Plan that Works ”
