I recently spoke to YPO Guatemala, in Guatemala City, which was a great experience. I shared with them a three hour interactive workshop on leadership succession planning. What made it a great experience was their willingness to participate fully in the discussion and group exercises as well as their warm generosity in the way that they hosted me while in Guatemala.
Navigating Your Business through Challenging Economic Times – In this episode, we welcome entrepreneur, author and leadership expert Richard J. Bryan to offer his expertise on ways to recession-proof your business.
It’s easy to think of succession planning as something that happens at the end of an era. But for a family business to survive and hopefully one day thrive, it’s actually a lifelong process that should be running in the background at all times—and coming into the foreground during key transitions. With this in mind, here are three essential tips to ensure you’re setting the next generation of leaders up for success in the way of family succession planning.
Within the next 10 years Boomers will have all but handed over the reins of corporate leadership to succeeding generations. Whether you’re running a family business or joining the ranks of a public enterprise, more than 75% of the workforce will be Millennials. This is likely the biggest leadership handover the corporate world has seen to date, and companies large and small are wisely making preparations. I’ve been working with my clients to create unique strategies that work within the realms of their family businesses – here are six strategies on how to stand out as a leader.
As a succession planning keynote speaker and author, I talk a lot about Millennials in the marketplace, who comprise half the current U.S. workforce and expected to reach 75% over the next five years. But recently, I’ve begun to field questions about preparing the next generation of leaders during this incredibly pivotal time. Today, with the oldest in this massive and complex demographic turning 40, and already exploring the upper echelons of leadership, the NEXT generation of leaders are just now entering the workforce.
Watching the pomp and circumstance that the British do so well, I was struck by how perfectly organized everything was down to the minutest detail. This does not happen without a lot of forward planning, preparation, and practice. When I am speaking as a succession planning keynote speaker or advising a coaching client about the future leadership of their business, I always tell them that starting early and planning long term are crucial for a smooth transition from one generation to the next.
During the past couple of years, we have had to become comfortable working from home—while also trying to balance family life, and possibly looking after someone who has been sick or has become more vulnerable. This is quite a change for many who were used to their daily commute into the office, where they had a clear distinction between home and work life as a virtual boss.
When it comes to succession planning for your business, are you engaging in a sustainable long-term strategy, or just looking for a quick fix? In my experience, the best succession plans are those that take a proactive long-term view. I’ve identified some essential areas in which you simply MUST be prepared. Answer these 10 business succession planning questions to get a clearer picture of where your business falls on the readiness spectrum.
The time to start the succession planning process isn’t when you’re under the gun to find a new leader in a few months, or even weeks—it’s NOW, when you can take the time to be proactive, strategic and thorough. At minimum, this is a two year process, but having a longer term plan in place…3 to 5 years, is even more beneficial in an effective leadership transition. I’ve created six tips to guide the succession planning process as you look for the right candidate.
After 17 years in the pilot’s seat, the CEO of Southwest Airlines is stepping down to make way for his successor. What struck me most about this news was the fact that Gary Kelly’s succession plan includes his staying on as executive chairman—which means he’ll be on hand to ensure a smooth transition. Kelly’s mentorship will be priceless for his successor, Bob Jordan, once he’s free to move about his new role. Here are a few lessons I’ve learned from my own transition experiences.
The past 18 months have given us countless insights into the broad category of “unforeseen circumstances.” With this in mind, I wanted to cover the basics of two different but equally important plans—succession planning, creating a long-term strategy for leadership changes—along with having a strategy for disaster recovery planning.
The Personal Side of Business Succession Planning It’s one of the most common pain points for my clients on the succession planning keynote speaker circuit: the leader who can’t stop leading. In a standard corporate transition, business is business. In the best of...
When diving into the fundamentals of succession planning with prospective clients I meet on the succession planning keynote speaker circuit, I often compare the process to creating a last will and testament. After all, that’s essentially what it is: basic estate planning for one’s business.
As a consultant and succession planning keynote speaker, I often take it for granted that business owners know what it is, and why it is important. However, several recent virtual conversations with groups of business owners made me realize that this is not the case—so I thought this might be a good time to revisit some succession planning fundamentals.
Within the next 10 years, Boomers will have all but handed over the reins of corporate leadership to succeeding generations. This is likely the biggest leadership handover the corporate world has seen to date, and companies large and small are wisely making preparations. On the succession planning keynote speaker circuit, I’ve been working with my clients to create unique strategies that work within the realms of their family businesses.
In the midst of this global crisis that we’re all navigating together, most business owners and leaders are focused on basic survival. They’re exploring the nuances of a (suddenly) remote workforce, looking for creative ways to recoup unexpected losses, and pondering substantial operational pivots to adapt to an ever-expanding “distance marketplace.”
In times of crisis, employees look to their leaders for reassurance as well as inspiration. They want to know that the company they work for is going to survive the current challenges—and hopefully, one day thrive. We have never before seen the global economy hit “pause” in this way.
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.
In my travels on the succession planning speaker and business turnaround speaker circuits, one of the most popular topics of discussion is leadership talent. My clients wonder: when is the right time to choose one’s successor, and what kind of leaders should they be looking for?
Here is the second blog in my Succession Planning Blog Series. The blogs in this series are designed to provide you with steps you can take as you travel down the road on your own succession planning journey
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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