Is it a guy thing not to a) ask for directions nor b) read instructions?

For your family’s enterprise succession plan, you really should not try to find your own way through the process…

at least at the planning stage.

Why?

– Getting started: Many have gone before you and faced the same succession challenges, successfully.
– Seeking a unique solution for your family
– Opening the conversation and communicating about sensitive topics
– Measuring progress (even elite and Olympic athletes have coaches to help them become better, incrementally)

Although you may be “stuck” in trying to seek a solution to succession, an integral part of any succession plan is the process itself and not just achieving succession. How to get unstuck? Seek advice from an experienced advisor. Families have achieved succession for generations so the challenges that they have faced have been well documented and tested. A good succession advisor would be knowledgeable of many of these myriad of issues faced by other families to help you identify the key issues specific to your succession plan.

Each family is unique in:

– communication style, both as a group and individually, see DISC assessment types here, DISC assessment types,
– family dynamics, and
– views about wealth.

The succession plan similarly has to be unique to each family. How to identify similarities and differences within the family about these unique attributes is integral as a first step to even beginning to talk about succession.

Talking about succession is not a normal dinner table conversation. First, how to open the conversation, what to talk about and how to make headway through the key issues of your succession. These are all challenges. If you feel comfortable about this and many families have successfully navigated their way through these conversations, then certainly proceed. If you have hesitation or lack of clarity, you may have a facilitator assist with the conversation, to ensure that it remains focused and productive, when succession is to be discussed.

Progress. This is a difficult measure in succession plans. Perhaps the easiest measure is the level of engagement of the stakeholders to the succession process. You should set benchmarks or hurdles with some timeframes to ensure that you are progressing through your succession plan.

So as you can see, succession for many is not a do it yourself project. Seek help; read lots. Secure assistance and guidance early in the planning process of your succession plan. This should and will smooth the process immensely,

Learn, think, apply!