BY PROF. ENRIQUE SORIANO
ACCORDING to Pastor Myron, “true success is not achieved unless there is a successor to continue succeeding. This principle is not found in leadership books or conferences, but rather in the Bible. Jesus anointed 12 to carry on the gospel of the kingdom and they in turn appointed others to follow them.”
This is the way succession is supposed to work, and if it does not, then founders and business leaders have miserably failed to complete their mission and their success will be nothing but full of disappointment, heartaches and their efforts of building their businesses for decades will be all for naught. Worthless.
This is the story of George, dounder of a sprawling business, philanthropist and battling the biggest battle of his life…racing against time! When we first met, he told me he was dying and was desperate as he had a little more than a year to live.
Here was a powerful individual, facing death head-on and pleading with me to help him prepare for his final act of greatness — succession to his children so they can continue his legacy. Before the meeting ended, he again remarked, “I cannot afford to drop the baton, I just can’t.”
In our first session with George and his family, I reiterated to everyone, especially to the children, that as they embark on this succession journey, they must also walk it faithfully. This will require a change in their individual perspective, absolute discipline, compliance, and real sacrifice.
In short, the family must agree on the need to professionalize and clarify their vision for the sake of the company’s future. They must also align their aspirations for the business and for themselves and must decide how it will be governed and how it will manage its relationship with the business.
Deteriorating health
As our regular sessions went full steam, George was always present and engaged in many discussions, sometimes heated and in many cases, inspiring. But the last few months were hard to witness. Most heartbreaking was watching him being wheeled inside the room.
George’s booming voice and energy was slowly fading and his interaction was limited to head and neck gestures and nods to express his agreement. When his health further deteriorated, the doctors sternly advised the family that he should no longer join our sessions.
As his body weakened, I received a message from his nurse to hurriedly visiteed him. In a soft and frail voice, George asked me a question, “My family will be okay and they will take care of our employees, right?”
He repeated the question with a look of desperation on his face. At that moment, I realized that being uncomfortable and facing death were the least of his concerns. What was most terrifying to George was leaving behind his family and the business enterprise hanging in the balance.
Suddenly, I understood that what he needed most was not for me to make sure he was comfortable, but for me to reassure him that his family and business will be oka y after he was gone. A few days after, he passed away leaving a huge void. We were halfway into our succession and governance journey.
Family, business, legacy are at stake
We may show pity over George’s unfortunate state, but his situation is not so different from that of many family enterprises in which wealth generation or the desire to make money, stature or reputation in the community are more important than preserving wealth, preparing the next generation set of leaders, harmonizing family relationships and championing a change in the business culture that will transform the current organization to a high-performing enterprise that will thrive for generations to come.
No doubt, there are many business owners in the same situation as George and the longer they delay the transition process, the situation becomes unsustainable./PN
