The Lost Ship — Future Leadership Has Not Been Built
A business without an effective leadership team is like a lost ship sailing aimlessly with no destination in mind. But many businesses transition from one generation to another without investing adequately in its future leadership.
The Twelve Dangers — There are many dangers that the traveller must be wary of and keep a close eye out for. Not only must they avoid these dangers but be proactive in protecting against them.
Danger: 6/12 — A Lost Ship: The future leadership team has not been developed and is unable to steer the ship.
Businesses that are built upon the capability of one person have a limited life. If you are sitting there today and thinking that no one can run the business the way you do, then your business will die with you and its capital value is restricted (if not non-existent). You are not investing in the leaders of the future at an adequate level.
The capital value of a business lies in certainty, and it is the certainty of its ability to produce an enduring income that underpins this value. The critical catalyst of this certainty is ultimately leadership, and if you do not develop leaders early enough, then capital value is limited.
You must always have an eye to leaders in your business at all levels and parts, and you must always be focused on developing leadership skills and traits wherever possible. If you do not see this capability in your organisation, then you need to create the space and time now and develop it.
Future leaders take time to gain experience and to mature. This can only occur if you provide them with the opportunities for involvement and mentor them on this journey. This process takes possibly years and certainly not months. Also, no one is going to lead the business the way you did, and you should not be seeking to breed clones.
So, if you do not see anyone who can lead the business exactly the way you did, then this is a good thing. What made the business successful for the last 40 years is likely not to be what will make it successful for the next 40 years.
You need to grow leaders who can take the business into the future, not seek to repeat what worked yesterday. How do you know what type of leaders you need? Well, a good starting point is to look to the strategic business plan for your business.
This should articulate its future course and thereby provide guidance to the challenges the leader will face, and who may then be best suited to this role.
Quotes From Travellers:
“Our principal outcome — Achieve successful generational transfer, and that the new generation take the company forward and make it grow” — From A Family Business in Argentina*
*Travellers quotes are from ‘Succession Reset’ by Dr Richard Shrapnel PhD, published by Baker Tilly International, London. 2014.
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An Invaluable Resource — ‘Transition — Orienteering The Lands of Succession’
