Succession Planning
 By
Henry D. Landes
April 1999
Recently, a friend mentioned an ad in a church periodical. The
ad was short and to the point. It read: "If you want to do
your family a disservice, die without a will." That was it.
If that doesn’t bring you up short, not much will.
The parallels from the ad to our work with business families are
obvious. The sad truth, however, is that a majority of Americans
die without a will, much less an estate plan or a succession plan
for a family business.
There’s no question that succession planning, the hard work
of planning for the next generation of ownership AND leadership
in a family business, is among the most challenging services of
the Delaware Valley Family Business Center. And, it’s probably
the most important. The old church ad says a mouth full. Succession
planning left undone does a cruel disservice to those we care about
most.
For many business families, the thought of succession planning
triggers a crisis. I suggest we interpret the word crisis as the
Chinese do. The Chinese combine two characters, those for danger
and for opportunity, to symbolize crisis. A crisis becomes dangerous
when we face it alone and ill-prepared. Yet, that same crisis, such
as a business family facing succession planning, becomes an opportunity
when we see this critical step as our "final test of greatness,"
to borrow Peter Drucker’s phrase. As founders, we lead with
vision. A founder’s plan for succession is visionary leadership
for the company we have built and for the family we love.
If we have been a good student of life, we've learned more about
relationships than about profit and loss. We have learned to cherish
relationships over sales and inventory. How we shape a succession
plan is a "final exam" of sorts on these "student
days" called life. I’m reminded of a book I heartily
recommend entitled Tuesdays With Morrie, by acclaimed author,
sportswriter, and radio talk show host Mitch Albom. Four years ago
Albom sat down to watch Ted Koppell’s show, Nightline.
Purely by coincidence Koppell’s guest that evening was Morrie
Schwartz, Albom’s mentor and professor from college days long
past. Schwartz was sharing his preparations for death. He was terminally
ill. Time was short.
Albom was both saddened and ashamed. He had allowed a dear relationship
to lapse, too busy with his life and career. Within days Albom flew
east to spend what became the first of many Tuesdays with Morrie
talking about the things that really matter and some things that
don’t. Toward the end of those precious Tuesdays, Morrie made
one final and lasting gift to his former student: the wisdom to
craft a vision for his own life that goes beyond fame, money, and
success. That’s what I call turning a crisis into an opportunity.
At the Delaware Valley Family Business Center we have the skills
to take the danger out of succession planning and help you turn
the "crisis' into an opportunity for extraordinary leadership.
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