Jeff Faulkner

Using Your Management Team to Develop the Next Generation
August 14, 2007

The development of capable successors for each management position is critical to succession. Two categories of successors must be developed: 1) Your role as a business owner, and 2) Your key management positions. 

In order to successfully train your successor, as the business leader, you must first admit and acknowledge your mortality. Many business owners believe “succession by death” is the best way to go for reasons such as, “This is my baby, I don’t want to leave my business,” and/or “What will I do in my spare time?;” however, the odds are against achieving Succession Success_sm without properly preparing your successor to take over the business. Below are some tips for preparing your successor as the business leader, assuming they will be one of your children.

1. Don’t do it yourself!  

You are a profoundly challenged mentor for your own children, especially your first born. As a parent, you know too much! You know all of their strengths AND weaknesses, which makes it difficult for you to mentor them objectively. You will most likely either be too hard or too soft on your children. 

The good news is that a family successor does not need to be a genius. If they are an effective manager with a strong work ethic, positive attitude, self discipline, self-control, willingness to sacrifice for the sake of the business, self-motivated, and possessing adequate people skills then the right team of managers around them will improve the odds your successor will be successful as the next business leader.    

2. The development of your successor has gotta be a team effort!

It’s best to establish a mentor team made up of one or more key managers to oversee the process. The development team should be charged with the responsibility of designing and facilitating a well-structured development program which provides specific training and positive reinforcement to your developing successor. With a team in place, this structure can take the pressure off of the parent-child relationship and assist in the process of transferring management loyalty to the successor. 

Before assembling your successor development team of trusted managers, remember –

• You must support your managers in the role of supervisor over a family member. 
• Managers need lee-way to treat your family as they would any other employee and they must know beyond the shadow of a doubt that their job is protected.
• The younger your successor is when you begin, the better. Ideally, you should begin a program at the outset of his/her career. 

When done right, a successor development program led by your trusted managers is an effective way of preparing your successor.

Posted by Jeff Faulkner on August 14, 2007 | Comments (0)