The future is purchased by the present.                         ~Samual Johnson

The only thing certain about the future is that it will arrive without regard to your preparation.  Fast-forward yourself to a point ten years from now.  Your retirement is near but your company is at a fork in the corporate road faced with the following scenarios:  Your key employee has resigned; and your company has an opportunity to acquire a competitor; or a new competitor threatens your very existence.  Your retirement now seems out of the question.

Rewind back to the present.  What one thing can you do now to successfully meet future challenges, to maintain a solid base of operations, and to ensure your own peace of mind?   You can identify and prepare tomorrow’s leaders today, this year, right now.  Unfortunately, according to Dan Ciampa, an adviser to senior executives during leadership transitions, “Many corporations—even family-owned businesses, where the financial security of generations is at stake—don’t even get as far as having a plan.”

Small and medium size businesses today operate without a clear plan of succession for two reasons—the lack of a detailed strategic plan and the lack of qualified successors.

Lack of Planning

A strategic plan that looks 10 years ahead is a blueprint for success that requires decisive action.  Enhanced revenue growth, profitability, and increased market share are all worthy goals. But until they are quantified and given a deadline, they mean little or nothing.  Understanding your current position in the marketplace gives you the starting point.  Thorough research will provide details for future actions.  First, identify the market you are in, then quantify your market share and, finally, describe how you compete within your market.  Developing a quantified 10-year plan within that specific context shows you exactly where you want to be.  Sharing that plan with your workforce creates the motivational environment for success.

Failure to Identify a Successor

Once you have identified your niche in the marketplace and your goals for the future, you can begin to assemble the right leadership team.  Writing thorough job descriptions is the first step.  Once you know the required skill set you can begin to fill the position.

An Inside Job

Chances are you already have the next generation of leaders on your staff.  They are familiar with your firm’s business, they are trusted, and they are loyal.  They are not, however, working up to their full potential.  What are the reasons for chronic “average” performance?

Weak commitment – the lack of a clear strategic plan makes it hard for employees to make a full commitment.  They are holding back because they perceive you to be holding back.  Your lack of clarity creates confusion.  It’s up to you to break this barrier and ask for a stronger commitment by laying out concrete performance goals with a specific timetable.

Inadequate education – current employees may be deficient in formal education (accounting, economics, computer skills) and therefore reluctant to ask for more responsibility.  According to Dan Ciampa, “In most cases, [future] CEO’s receive little actionable feedback ….”  By addressing these developmental needs now you actually strengthen the mutual commitment and increase your employee’s productivity and output immediately.  The availability of corporate trainers and both on-line and traditional classroom courses puts formal education within anyone’s grasp.

Insufficient technical skills – future senior leaders need a broad background in the technical skill areas they will be supervising. The Center for Creative Leadership estimates that “forty percent of new CEO’s fail in their first 18 months.”  A comprehensive cross training program (designed for competence, not expertise) gives the candidate a deeper understanding of the ten-year strategic plan.  It will also validate him or her in the eyes of the workforce.  Challenger, Gray, and Christmas, a leading national outplacement firm, states, “The biggest challenge looming over corporate America [is] finding replacement CEO’s.”  The lack of a strategic succession plan creates a huge liability for your company. 

Back to the Future

Fast-forward ten years into the future.  You’re back at that fork in the road.  You can double your market share by acquiring a competitor.  This is a great opportunity for you—provided you are prepared.  Your competitor (the one you may acquire) did not have a strategic plan.  They were unable to meet the challenges of an untimely resignation, a technological shift, or intense competitive pressure.  For whatever reason they couldn’t (or wouldn’t) go on.  You, on the other hand, are prepared.  You have clarified your company’s future.  You have made a commitment to growth and to a succession plan.  You asked for and received commitments from your key staff members.  You invested time and money into their development, just in case this moment arrived.  It did.  And, you are ready.  Congratulations.  Now, fast-forward ten more years into the future.  You are at a fork in the road ….

This article is provided as general information and is not inteneded to be a substitute for legal or other professional advice.