Applying these 12 initiatives in the course of growing the business plan is like the smooth, graceful exchange of a baton between runners in a relay race. The new runner has maximum energy; the concluding runner is slowing down as he has already spent his energy by running at maximum speed early on. The athletes never come to a stop to exchange the baton; instead, the handoff takes place on the move.
The race becomes a skillful blend of the talents of all team members–an exchange of leadership that is so smooth and powerful that the business never falters, but accelerates, fueled by a new source of energy at each leg of the race.
Grooming the successor can begin at an early age, simply by involving children in the family business and observing which ones have the greatest ability and interest in the company.
Good succession planning does not merely involve designating a family member and training him or her for the takeover. In fact, grooming the successor is the founder’s greatest teaching and development responsibility because it involves a long-term, continuing effort to balance competing interests and pressures that are integral in a family business.
Another key feature of many successful planning processes is the third party advisor or consultant to guide the family through the many intricacies of management succession. He/she would be able to help identify the relevant issues while avoiding interference that emerges from emotional factors.
The independent judgment of the advisor can serve as a means to resolve conflicts and overcome opposition by bridging generational gaps with his experience and expertise.
In my many years of family business consulting, training second and third-generation heirs and doing coaching work in Asia, I have personally met many family business leaders who believe that they are taking considerable risks in transferring a successful business into the next generation. However, once they made a concerted effort to plan for succession, they were able to reduce these daunting odds.
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Prof. Soriano is an Asean Family Business advisor and chair of the Marketing Cluster of the Ateneo Graduate School of Business. He is a National Agora Awardee and book author of Kite Runner, a book on Family Business Governance and Succession.
sorianoasia@gmail.com