Succession Planning – Building Value

September 26, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Nike endorsed Tiger Woods for a very simple reason. He takes command of a situation and gets the job done. In the previous two articles, we talked about “triggering events” – those circumstances in life that make us see the need to take action(s) that we have been putting off for whatever reason(s).

Let’s go back and look at your responses to the Quick Test in the last blog, Triggering Events: What Moves Us To Take Action. If you responded with all “Agree” responses, then we say “Congratulations!” You’re probably well on your way to succession success. Keep up the good work. If you responded with “Disagree” or “Not Sure,” then here are our suggestions for each question.

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September 24, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

A few weeks ago, the phone rang. A reporter asked me if I was aware of the tragic death of a Minnesota business owner who had gone to Beijing to watch the Olympics. I told him that I knew someone had died, but I didn’t know much about the individual’s circumstances. The reporter told me that the victim was the CEO of a very successful fourth generation Minneapolis business. “How much more difficult will it be for family members and employees to deal with this than for a publicly held company?” the reporter asked.

Obviously, there’s the personal grief that family and employees have to face, which will only be complicated by the utter senselessness of the act itself. “Well,“ he said, “I understa...Read More

September 22, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

Just a few weeks ago, I was with three of a client’s Very Special Key Managers – the kind of people who would have been in business for themselves had circumstances been slightly different. Their General Manager had asked that I spend time with them to help move them to that mythical “next level.”

One of them has a daughter who celebrated an 18^th birthday two days before our meeting. L. D. told me that “She looked me in the eye, held my hand, and said ‘You know, Dad, you don’t spend much time with us. I don’t really feel like I know you.’ I was crushed. I went to bed that night feeling very empty.”

That experience opened the door to a lengthy conversation about how we define success. For a long time, we have used a couple of definitions. One of my favorites is “competing and comparing wi...Read More

August 29, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Remember that question from the fairy tales? It was all about how one generation handled the rise of the next. You might recall that the older generation didn’t handle the response any too well, and dealt with disappointment of beauty lost by poisoning the heir(ess) apparent.

How can you keep that from happening in your own set of circumstances? If your relationships among potential successors are healthy, then we need to keep building on the good work you’ve done. If the poisonous seeds have already been planted, then we’ve got to figure out how to mitigate the damages. Until the monitor says “Game Over,” it’s never too late to repair damaged or strained relationships.

Seven Steps to Strong Relationships

Here are seven steps that we use to build strong relationships among...Read More

August 27, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

We all have a different idea of vacation paradise. For some, it’s the mountains. For others, it’s forest. For you, it might be the ocean beach. For one family we know and serve, it’s the Caribbean Islands in February.

Let’s talk about the islands. Many businesses and families have members who perpetually live in an island state of mind. You can hear them talk about “Tomorrow I’ll,” “Next Year I’ll,” or “Someday I’ll.” There is actually a little bit of that in all of us, isn’t there? So how do we get off the “I’ll” and begin taking action on those things we gently remind ourselves really should be done?

Making Today Count

Our Caribbean client frequently talks about some of his business owner peers and their problems with being part of the “S...Read More