Coaching for Succession
September 26, 2008
Succession Coaching in Practice – One of my succession coaching clients, Katharine Myers, of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator fame, told me about a recent article featuring her in the Philadelphia Inquirer. When she was interviewed for the piece, we were about mid-way along our coaching path. This week, the last week in September, we had dinner to celebrate her successful transition. You can read the article (I’m referenced as “executive coach”) at: http://tinyurl.com/3obbyn
John Reddish, www.thesuccessionplanner.com and www.getresults.com
Coaching for Succession
September 24, 2008
As a business owner looking to a new future, perhaps a new beginning, you are likely to have three concerns in understanding the importance of who and what comes next – Legacy, Liquidity/value and Letting Go.
In seeking a coach/advisor to be as little as a sounding board and as much as a trusted advisor, you need to enlist someone who is both sensitive/empathetic to these concerns and expert enough in the disciplines surrounding them to guide you and/or refer you to the expertise needed.
So, your first select in choosing your coach is, “Is s/he the one for me?” Remember, as you choose, this person will almost certainly know your innermost secrets. Trust and confidentiality are key. So, too, is personality fit. If the person looks like a distant relative you can’t stand, and this will be a distraction, hire someone else. Always trust your “gut.” If something doesn’t feel right, pay attention. Giving up your “baby,” your company, is tough. Being comfortable with your succession coach will make the whole process easier.
Second, your coach’s job is to help keep you accountable to yourself. S/he has to be tough enough to stand up to you when the time comes – and it will. At the same time, s/he can’t be a tyrant.
Third, sit down with your family and/or stakeholders and see how they feel about a different future. Explore what their “dreams” might be. You don’t have to go along with their thinking; it’s just helpful to know at the onset of the project.
Fourth, meet with your coach and share what you have learned. Tell him/her how important or how much of a challenge legacy, liquidity and letting go are for you. Ask your coach to help you devise a coordinated personal/professional set of goals to guide you through the process.
Some key questions you will need answers for (even interim answers work here) and that your coach can work through with you, are:
1. How do you want to be remembered (by group, eg. Family, community, your charities, friends, employees, etc)
2. Can I just walk away, or do I want some kind of transition?
3. If circumstances make it unlikely you will be able to step down right away, can you delay the transition until the company’s situation will permit it?
4. How much do you need – cash and annuity value – from the company to maintain lifestyle and meet other wants/concerns (leaving an estate, healthcare, spousal care, etc)?
5. Are you ready to let go? (in many cases this should be your first question!)
6. If you are “tired” and just want out, can you hang in there to maximize your return?
7. Have you “taught” all you need to teach to those who will carry on?
8. Are you willing to sell your company or would you rather it was adopted by a good buyer?
9. If an employment/consulting contract is part of the sale, are you ready to report to somebody else who’s now running “your” company?
Fifth, bring your attorney, your accountant and your financial planner into the discussion, introducing them to your succession coach, if they are not already informed. Succession is a team effort and each player holds a key position.
Sixth, start the process. In most instances, a good succession can take multiple years, particularly if the company might not command the value needed to meet financial needs after the sale. It all depends on what you want and your coach will be your champion.
© 2008 John Reddish
John Reddish works with entrepreneurs CEOs and other leaders who want to master growth, transition and succession to get results faster, less painfully and in ways that work for them. For information and/or additional similar content go to: www.getresults.com, my succession blog www.successionplanner.com or call 1.800.726.7985.
Who Gets the Rights?
September 17, 2008
I remember reading in “Confessions of an Advertising Man,” that David Ogilvy (founder of the legendary O&M) had signed over the royalty rights to his son and that his son, as a consequence, was doing quite well. In succession planning and its implementation, Intellectual Property (IP) rights often get short shrift. They are harder to value than hard assets and the introduction of a new technology can wipe out their value entirely. They are, however, assets worth valuing and selling (or bequeathing) at the right price.
Keep in mind when seeking to pass them on, though, that rights can produce royalties. Rights, which are restrictions on those who don’t have them, also tend to invite imitation if not downright infringement. IP rights are expensive to get and to maintain. They are also very costly to defend. A fellow panelist at an IP workshop said that a typical patent in the pharmaceutical field cost the company about $645,000 in filing, maintenance and defense costs over its lifetime. Everyone, including the rest of us on the panel, were stunned. So, if you own IP, it is probably worth something, but it also carries with it some challenges when sold, donated or bequeathed.
John Reddish’s expertise is helping entrepreneurs and top executives who want to master growth, transition and succession, get results faster, less painfully and in ways that work for them. John is a member of the National Speakers Assn. For more information: www.getresults.com. Or call 800.726.7985 in the US, 01.610.388.9335 internationally, or at johnr@getresults.com.
Put your Busines Up For Adoption?
September 9, 2008
Over the years, many clients have been surprised by my question, “do you want to sell your business or have it adopted by a good family?” As the import sinks in, I am frequently met by shy smiles and slow nods. In 30+ years of working with entrepreneurs to sell their businesses, I’ve found a goodly number really want the business adopted by a good family. The business has been good to them, and, as they surrender their stewardship over markets, trade relationships and employees, some view a “sale” as an abandonment. It’s harder to find an adopter than a buyer, but when you look intentionally, sometimes you find just what you are looking for.
John Reddish, website: www.getresults.com, business blog: www.TheSuccessionPlanner.com
A Reflective Senior Moment
September 9, 2008
I remember when I couldn’t wait to be a high school Senior, then a College Senior, followed by a Senior Manager/Leader. In time I have become a Senior Advisor to many clients. What I, and many Boomer entrepreneurs like me have never wanted to be, is a Senior Citizen. It’s not that we deny getting older, we just never think of ourselves as “old.”
We are arguably more active and vibrant than past generations as a whole and more involved. Some of it is due, no doubt, to our belief that we might live forever so why put too much aside. Some comes from the need to work on because we haven’t put enough aside. I think the thought process for many of us, though, is rooted in equating death with retirement and equating productive work with being alive.
John Reddish, website: www.getresults.com, business blog: www.TheSuccessionPlanner.com
