I. Succession Planning for Leadership and Management

Client: Full service specialty chemical distributor

Collaboration: Estate attorney, accountant, an industrial psychologist

Challenge: Unwillingness to identify management and leadership successors

• Action: Clarify the succession process, identify a future leader and develop and implement succession plans for ownership and management.
• Why: The younger generation is chafing to take over and the older generation, although near retirement age, won’t give up the reins.
• Action: Management coaching for the younger generation.
  create and implement a leadership development plan for the younger generation.
• Why: To ensure that the younger generation has fully developed skills and experience.
• Action: Clarification of roles and responsibilities and team building.
• Why: To reduce confusion about responsibilities and accountabilities and promote smooth functioning of the management group.
• Action: Assess skills, interest and abilities of potential leaders.
• Why: To identify the future leader of the business.
• Action: Retirement coaching for the senior generation.
• Why: To reduce likelihood of interference by the senior generation after transition.

Result: Second generation leader is identified. Current leader has committed to a succession schedule. Leader and successor are now able to communicate clearly and clarify expectations of themselves, each other and the business.

II. Successful Leadership Transition: A Forum for Family Business Leaders

Client: Full-service bank with multiple locations in six mid-western states

Challenge: A large part of the bank’s customer and prospect base is family owned businesses. The bank recognizes that successors, potential successors and leaders in family businesses face unique challenges. Bankers working with families who are in business face another set of unique challenges.

• Action: Create and facilitate a series of two hour interactive forums for successors and leaders in family owned businesses.
• Why: As part of the bank’s commitment to ensuring the over-all business health of their customers.
  Topics:
  • Communicating effectively
  • Managing conflict
  • Becoming a leader
  • Challenges to successful succession
  • Developing a vision for you and your business
• Action: Create and facilitate a series of two hour interactive meetings for bankers.
• Why: To educate bankers about the complexity of the relationships when families are in business together. To enhance bankers’ roles as professional advisors without challenging the authority of the family/business leadership.

Result: Participants completed extremely favorable evaluations of all sessions and have expressed a desire to continue the forums and the training.

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