Next Gens: Preparing To Lead
By Tim Schultz
You have gotten your education and training. You have conveyed your desire to play a leadership role. You are actively working in the business. Yet, the “now generation” hasn’t shared with you a plan on how, or even if, you will be able to lead the family business into the future. How can you begin the conversation to successfully shift from a support to a leading role?
Build Support Among Other Next Generation Family Members
Talk with those next generation family members who either do have ownership stakes or are likely to have ownership stakes in the family business. Ask each one individually what they want for their future in the family business. Actively listen, take notes and tell them what you heard to make sure you are capturing their desires accurately. Once you have spoken with each individually and captured their desires, convene a meeting with all, or as many as possible, to share the collective feedback. This will get interests on the table and begin to build trust as you openly share with each other. It will also help to sort out future roles for you and your family.
Articulate a Vision
After your peer, next generation family members have a clear idea of what you all would like, develop a vision of where you would collectively like to take the business. This doesn’t have to be a long or overly complicated document. Just a statement on who your business will serve, in what ways you will add value to your customers, what will set you apart in the marketplace, and where you will offer the goods and or services to your customers. Having a vision your family can rally around will be an incredible source of strength as you talk with the “Now Gen” about leading into the future.
Understand the Needs of the Now Generation
One of the biggest obstacles we have seen to transition is the Next Generation’s failure to account for the needs of the Now Gen, whether they be financial, emotional or professional. Much like you did with the Next Gen family members, individually interview each Now Gen family member to figure out what they are needing in the future. It may be a steady income stream, or something that will make them feel useful to the business. It may be knowing the business legacy will be in good hands with the Next Gen. Or it may simply be a way to keep busy that is enjoyable to them.
Propose a Plan
Once you know what the Next Gen and Now Gen want, it’s time to develop a plan on how to get from here to there. This will likely take time and negotiation. You’ll need to work with your trusted advisors on the most effective ways to transfer assets and leadership, as well as to fashion effective governance systems to stay on course.
The handoff from one generation to the next is one of the most perilous times in a family business. The ones who are successful with this transition are the ones who build relationships, understand needs, create unifying visions and build roadmaps and systems to realize their vision.