At 70 years old, Hamilton should be enjoying the fruits of his entrepreneurial labor, tinkering with new ideas and opportunities for his business.
Instead, he is mired in day-to-day operations, having spent the last 14 years stubbornly and unsuccessfully attempting to identify and groom a successor to take over.
Hamilton’s fatal mistake? Trying to tackle the complex succession planning process entirely on his own without the guidance of an outside voice or coach.
Over that 14-year span, he cycled through not one, not two, but three potential successors - spending 4-5 years vetting and prepping each one.
In the end, they all opted out, finding the job too “frustrating,” lacking the desire for that level of responsibility, or deeming the workload too “demanding.” A self-proclaimed workaholic, Hamilton struggled to identify someone cut from the same cloth to take the reins.
His wife bluntly sums it up: “You will never find someone who wants to be a workaholic like you!”
AN OUTSIDE VOICE IN SUCCESSION PLANNING
An outside succession planning coach could have guided Hamilton down a more realistic path.
Instead, Hamilton remained stuck in his own ways of thinking, wasting 14 crucial years.
As the Succession Planning for Impact framework outlines, succession planning begins with confronting your fears about eventually exiting, recognizing your business’s positive impact to sustain, and developing it into a mission that transcends any single leader.
From there, you build a team to eventually take over and multiply that impact, executing the “baton exchange” when the time comes. Only then can the current leader truly “finish well” by fully transferring ownership while remaining engaged as an advisor.
VICTORY LAP
Hamilton should be enjoying his “victory lap” now.
However, he skipped some crucial first steps to expand his thinking and build a sustainable leadership team over the years. His stubborn insistence on finding one anointed successor consumed over a decade before he finally stumbled upon a path forward.
“Rather than choosing one successor, we’ve divided the business into three regions with three leaders,” he explains of the new decentralized model. “My latest effort is working with this group of younger leaders and exercising more patience to teach them.”
While Hamilton has finally started implementing a true succession plan, those 14 lost years are a cautionary tale about the perils of trying to go it alone. Even for a successful entrepreneur, being too stuck in your own perspective can lead to years of spun wheels and missed opportunities.
The simple solution? Employing an outside expert voice to coach you through the process from the very start. A coach can:
Help you confront your fears
Develop your business-as-a-mission
Define and strengthen your niche
Build out your leadership team over years or decades
Thoughtfully execute the final leadership transition
No entrepreneur is an island - and that’s especially true when it comes to succession planning. Going it alone can result in decades of wasted time.
The moral of the story? Avoid Hamilton’s fate and bring in a coach from day one. With the right guidance, you can spend those 14 years actually implementing your succession plan rather than spinning your wheels.
Harry T. Jones
P.S. Don’t go it alone like Hamilton and waste years spinning your wheels on succession planning. Bring in an advisory team from the start by joining our Succession Planning for Impact Mastermind. You’ll get guidance through the proven 7-step method to build your leadership team, define your legacy impact, and execute a smooth transition - all while you spend less time on daily operations.
Email me, harryt@cultivatingimpact.biz with “Mastermind” in the subject line to get on the waitlist for our next mastermind. An outside perspective from day one could save you over a decade of frustration like Hamilton faced.
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