Failure is an inevitable part of life—and, of course, business. It’s a topic I cover thoroughly as leadership and succession planning speaker, in part because I learned early in my career to actually value failure for the indelible lessons it can teach us, both about business and about ourselves.
On the business growth speaker circuit, I hear a lot of talk about Millennials. I recently wrote a post on how to adapt to working with this generation, and wanted to supplement those ideas with some thoughts on how their unique toolkit and perspective is affecting the way we hire. The global workforce is on the brink of a powerful sea of change.
As a leadership keynote speaker, there’s one phrase I hear more often than any other: “We’re just waiting for the right time to make these changes.” If there truly was a “right time” for any kind of change, whether personal or professional, I probably wouldn’t have a career on the leadership keynote speaker circuit.
As a reformed over-committer, I have seen first-hand how easy it is to fill up your calendar with tasks and appointments that aren’t personally OR professionally fulfilling. When I first began to practice the art of saying “no,” I started every sentence with the word “sorry.” Now, when I’m declining an invitation or project, I start with “thank you. Particularly during my time on the succession planning speaker circuit, I found I had dozens of opportunities during the day to give away my most precious resource—my time—for free.
The combination of family and business is always a challenging one – and never more so than during the changing of the guard. As I’ve seen first-hand, both during my travels as a succession planning speaker and in my experience taking over my family’s business, firm boundaries, and indisputable objectivity are essential to the succession planning process. As a succession planning speaker, I’m often asked for common succession planning scenarios in which a Board of Advisors can be particularly helpful.
It may sound counter-intuitive, but one of the reasons I’ve been so successful as a business turnaround speaker is that I’ve experienced nearly ALL of my clients’ challenges first-hand. There are countless situations in which we can unknowingly stand in our own way—here are five scenarios I see most often in my work, and how to get around them.
It may not surprise you to learn that many businesses fail to survive the succession process and fall prey to family infighting. Here are a few reasons conflict situations that might arise during this complex and emotionally charged time—and how to defuse them.
While I don’t really have a commute, per se, as a succession planning speaker I spend a fair amount of time traveling. And it seems I’m not alone; a recent AAA survey found that the average American adult spends about 300 hours—or nearly two full weeks’ time—in the...
If you’ve been reading the news at all in recent years, you may have noticed a mounting “body count” of all the industries and institutions Millennials have, according to clickbait journalism, allegedly “killed” with their complex and mercurial ways. Shouty headlines seem to announce a new “death” every day – RIP, American Dream…and thanks for nothing, Millennials!
As a succession planning speaker, I’m often asked about business contingency planning within the larger context of succession planning—are the two ideas related, and how? The answer isn’t difficult to understand, but it does require a bit of clarification.
Listen to Richard’s interview with Jena Rodriguez …
While criticism is essential to the process of professional growth, no one enjoys getting negative feedback. I’ll share a few simple mindset adjustments that can make the process quite a bit more tolerable—regardless of whether you’re on the giving or receiving end.
Handing Over the Reigns is a must read for anyone who is contemplating passing their business on to the next generation. This book is based on Richard’s experience in a 4th generation 100 year old family business and from the work he has done with many other privately held companies in the UK and USA.
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