Case Study: Succession Planning Process
I met with Carl three times in less than times weeks. He really wanted me to “experience” his business, show me how great they were doing and what an exciting client company this was going to be.
He had two sons and two nephews in the company, all anxious to prove they were the right fit for the senior leadership team. He was full of energy, high tales of business adventure and plenty of bluster. His sons vacillated between being proud and energized by their dad and slightly embarrassed by his grandiose personal testimonials.
Carl wanted help to finalize the plans for transitioning the business to the next generation. However, I saw plenty of warning signs that this wasn’t going to be a smooth or successful transition:
- Carl was still making most of the key decisions.
- The employees saw Carl as the boss – and always went to him for guidance and advice.
- His sons and his nephews knew that any decision they made or idea they had could be easily over-ruled by Carl.
- Most of the key business relationships with stakeholders, customers and other professionals were maintained with Carl.
- Although he made a lot of decisions, was the ‘design guru’ and keeper of the company’s history, nothing was written down. Everything of importance was kept in Carl’s head.
- In planning meetings, the focus was generally on short-term objectives and rarely, if ever, on long-term goals.
- Carl really didn’t have a clear vision of what he wanted his transition to look like – he just knew that this was something he was “supposed” to do.
If we were going to create a successful and sustainable company that could weather the transition of such an inspiring and influential figure, we needed to take a different path.
First, I explained how businesses tend to grow and change over time when owners are aware of what it takes to build a strong and successful family enterprise.

Secondly, we talked about what it would take to move the company from the Entrepreneurial Phase to the Consolidation Phase – ensuring that the next generation was taking over something that could thrive. Here are the 5 key points we identified as our objectives:
- Develop a strategic plan to ensure the company has a few long-term goals and measureable objectives that can be shared across the company. This also gave the next generation an opportunity to be involved in the planning, identify their role in bringing the plan to fruition and to learn how Carl had traditionally figured out the best way to grow the business.
- Create a professional development plan for the members of the next generation to assist them to evolve from “helpers” to “leaders.” These young men were still “yes” men. They rarely stood up to Carl or offered their own ideas. This meant that it was difficult for them to build respect among their employees or to gain the confidence they would need to lead the business someday. In building the professional development plan, we identified the necessary competencies for leadership and located coaching and learning opportunities.
- Actively engage in being a business mentor. This meant working diligently to change Carl’s role…in baby steps, from that of a strong leader to a focused mentor and coach. He would need to begin to unpack the way in which he had traditionally made decisions and lead the company so that he could teach these things to others.
- Identify and build the senior leadership team. We used the strategic plan as a basis for identifying the roles and competencies we would need at the top of the organization. Then, we had to align the selection of family members (or non-family members) with the appropriate roles based upon their skill set.
- Document key processes. The company needed to stop relying so heavily on Carl to be the font of all knowledge. We had to create standard operating procedures, identify ways to improve quality and empower others to solved problems and design solutions.
None of this was easy, and the succession planning process took over two years to complete. However, by the time the five steps were complete, Carl was finally able to see how the company might run without his day-to-day involvement. He gained much greater confidence in his management team and his relationship with his sons and nephews improved. Most importantly, with a more empowered and knowledgeable workforce, the company was much more stable and professional–laying a strong foundation for the future transition of ownership.
Linda Williams
Oh no! Help! This sounds just like my father-in-law except that he doesn’t want help, nor does he listen to any professional advice that has come his way from business advisors, accountants, etc. My husband is 49 and has worked there since he was 15. On taxes and filed with Arizona Corporation Commission it shows my husband as 24% owner, however no other estate or partnership papers have been signed. No trust, nothing. Also, they only made him part owner to save money on taxes according to Mom and Dad the other owners of the company. Also, taxes and AZ corporation commission percentages for Mom and Dad in laws show different amounts and they have been advised the corporation will not protect any of them because of this difference. Also, no one is looking at the financials, my husband has only seen a few random taxes, P & L sheets, balance sheets, etc. They do not even produce these forms on a regular basis. This business has averaged 1 million in revenue a year for about 20 years. They lost a couple of key employees in the last decade, my husband took over their responsibilities, even though he still gets paid hourly, these salaries from the employees that left should have left the company with more profits, but their profit has gone down in the recent years to being in the red according to taxes. Again, we don’t get to see other financials, just the K1 for our tax purposes. Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated. Where do we go? What do we do?
Galliard Team
Linda, thank you so much for your question. We’re glad you found us and will continue to follow up via email to make sure you get the help you need. Keep in touch!
Claudio Ridolfi
Lise. Very very interesting and precise description of some cases I saw. Congratulations !! I would like to share this article in Linkedin. Do you think it is possible? Thank you. Claudio
Galliard Team
Yes, please feel free to share Claudio! Please link back to our site. Thanks very much!
Claudio Ridolfi
Thank you vey much Lise, but I cannot see the sign to share in Linkedin. Am I making something wrong or there is not such possibility?
Galliard Team
Hi Claudio – I just made a change so I’m hoping you see the LinkedIn button now. Thank you very much for sharing!