Jeff Faulkner

How to Leave a Legacy - Planning
June 16, 2008

My favorite presidential accomplishment is the construction of the interstate highway system by Dwight D. Eisenhower’s administration. I just returned from a family vacation that was made much easier by the interstate system and am grateful for it. Eisenhower is also credited with saying “Plans are nothing. Planning is everything.” Planning was certainly necessary to construct the interstate infrastructure that we enjoy in our country. In the same way, if you desire to leave a legacy through your family and business, you have to engage in planning. It will not happen by default. Left to chance, the legacy you leave will be a tragedy.

I’ve had the experience of hearing many men on their deathbeds talking about their regrets – never have I heard anyone say they wish they had spent more time on their business. If you are fortunate, you will discover this long before your dying days. The importance of the family in the family business cannot be overstated. In order to leave a legacy of sustaining the success and culture of the business through the next generation you must understand that your biggest asset is the people in your life, starting with your family members, and they need you.

The next generation of leadership lies under your nose and is depending upon you to pour your life, time, experiences, values, character, expertise, business acumen, intuition and instincts, ability to read people, trust in your managers, loyalty to vendors/manufacturers, into them. If you do so, the next generation of family leadership within the business will be rich in the soul or essence of your leadership and practical ability. To fail to pour your life into them will lead to a next generation lacking in the essence of leadership.

To accomplish this you have to engage in planning. Follow these critically important steps:

1. Incorporate the development of your children into your core priorities.
2. Make a list of the character traits and values that you want to work on conveying to your children – start with integrity.
3. Design a program to intentionally impart those values and traits. Plan activities and events with each of your children that will help you instill the character trait in them. This requires that you anticipate and think ahead of the situations that you and your children will be involved in over the course of the year. Most of us tend to take life as it comes rather than intentionally designing it.
4. Commit the plan to writing.
5. Be flexible with the plan. It’s just an outline. Update it annually.

You may wish you had started on a program like this a lot earlier. In fact, you may wish your father had done this with you. Think of the problems and turmoil that could have been avoided if it had been understood that family members are your greatest asset and deserve as much of your attention, guidance, and direction as the family business.

Posted by Jeff Faulkner on June 16, 2008 | Comments (0)