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Case Studies: Is This Your Business? Q: How do you convince your boss that succession planning is important? He/she is always dealing with right now and refuses to think about the future. A: I am not sure if, when you say "your boss", you are referring to a business' owner or CEO, or just a division manager. The distinction is important. The survival of a business depends far less on the succession of a manager than on that of the CEO. Therefore I will presume that, by the term boss, you are referring to the business' chief executive, or owner. The principles in that case can also be applied to succession at the managerial level, and indeed within any organization that has a hierarchical structure involving key personnel. Succession planning is really a form of business financial planning, or operational development. As with any kind of planning, personal feelings, fears, and day-to-day worries often enter into the picture, which can then become clouded regarding the future. It is likely for this reason that while a large majority of business leaders say succession planning is important, only about 20%, especially in small businesses, have a thorough plan in place. Most business leaders have personalities that are versions of the "warrior" combination of leader/manager. The warrior/founder CEO has placed his personal capital and his family's financial future at risk to achieve success based on his or her individual initiative and merit. These qualities of analysis and action consequently tend to be uppermost in their minds when they assess situations and other individuals. Therefore the best way to "convince" a boss to consider succession planning involves appealing to those top-of-mind beliefs. Usually this begins by simply asking the boss some basic questions about his or her mortality: "No one is immune from tragedy, death, or retirement, so what happens if you are not here to lead the business? How would it operate? Who would do it?" Not only will these questions lead to thinking about larger issues, such as who will succeed the CEO when he or she retires or decides to slow down, they will have an immediate improving effect on the business because they will also codify business processes. Many small business leaders are in fire-fighting mode most of the time, and rarely write down operational procedures. Instead they invent them on the fly, or keep them "in their head", causing frustration all around. So including a succession plan as part of a written operational manual is one way of forcing the warrior/firefighting CEO to think about it. Also, an appropriate person should ask these questions. Because most bosses have a warrior/leader personality, they don't just listen to anyone. More likely the questions should be posed by someone the boss trusts and respects. If this is not a trusted lieutenant, employee or family member, then it should be an outside advisor such as an accountant or other financial advisor, lawyer, consultant, or board member. Each of these people would likely be involved at times in visioning sessions with the boss and would therefore have an entry point to bring up these issues. You may find the boss has already thought of these concerns, but has set them aside to concentrate on more immediate problems. Invariably, as an enterprise grows in mass and complexity, the business succession question begins to loom. The CEO at times starts to entertain these questions:
Once the question of succession has been raised, it is up to this trusted advisor to point out that succession planning must be undertaken soon if the business is to survive. As we said previously, no one is immune to sickness, accident, death or retirement. Even the strongest business leaders should have plans in place to ensure the business carries on if they are no longer there to lead it.  Back to Resources
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