Loichinger Advantage

Much of the activity around succession and exit planning seems to have trailed off as business owners have watched their savings and financial resources dive with the undertain economy.

I believe a related issue is how family and closely held business owners look at the process all together.  My experience has been that too many look at exit planning as the end of the road.  I can see why this has become a common perception, but if they work with the right attorney, the right advisor, there is another way to look at what lies ahead.

Updating the Ownership Perspective

Clearly, there is an ending to professional work, to ownership and to commitments to others within the organization - in most cases.

Still, others look at their exit with a sense of renewal.

• Personal Renewal - While the latest chapter of life as an organizational leader is closing, there is the opportunity to move into the next chapter of life with excitement and anticipation.  The former CEO of Medtronic has chosen to move into teaching other young leaders the lesssons of organizational life.  Still others, remain in the organization as a member of the board, and volunteer their efforts within the community and with non-profit associations they admire and respect.
• Leadership Renewal -  There is the opportunity for a new leader and management team to use the lessons of the past, but look ahead to new business models and updated perspectives.  Often, the elephant in the room for family transition is that dad or mom expects the sibling taking over to run the company in the same way, with the same business models that they found to be so successful.  What, if on the other hand, the son or daughter used the lessons of the past, and moved with new models that would help the organization move through it’s newest growth curve.

Leaders who step away successfully create a new vision for themselves, their life and for the renewal of the organization or business they led so well for so many years.  They are able to step away from what they built, because they have a new view of the world and what lies ahead.

Tags: Executive Coaching, Exit Planning, leadership development, Strategy, Succession Planning

This entry was posted on Friday, June 5th, 2009 at 11:16 am and is filed under Succession Planning. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.