Today we have a guest blog from Lauren Owen:
It’s hard enough to make a big decision, even harder still to make a big decision that’s tangled up inside a bunch of moving parts. For example, I was recently talking to a CEO who was trying to work her way through a succession plan. She founded a company with two grown daughters working in it. She’s got strong management in one division, less so in the other. She’s wasn’t sure either child was willing or even able to run, much less own, the company.
So it was little wonder that she was sitting with her head in her hands. “I don’t know where to start!,” said my normally analytical and decisive client. In situations like this, I like to ask: “What is it that you do know for sure?”
My client’s initial reply was, “Nothing! There’s a lot more that I don’t know. That’s what’s driving me crazy!” I pressed her further, saying surely there was something in this whole tangled mass of uncertainty that she did know. She came up with this list:
- She’d found something challenging and interesting for her to do after she “retired” and she knew who she wanted to be doing it with.
- She didn’t want to be involved in the day to day operations forever – her ideal timeframe was that four years from today she wanted to be out, not necessarily as owner, but at least as the CEO.
- She didn’t want to still be “on the hook,” for liability or financial issues (i.e. signing loan guarantees, etc.) for either company once she was out of the day to day operations.
- She didn’t want either daughter to be working in or owning a company if that’s not what they wanted to do. (Or, weren’t capable of doing.) She didn’t want her family relationships damaged because people were forced (or guilt tripped) into doing things that weren’t right for them.
- The current manager of one division had proven himself a capable leader and manager of at least that area of the company and could potentially run the entire operation on his own, given some more guidance and training.
We still had a lot of unknowns dangling out there but we had the beginnings of a direction (retirement dream), a strong desire, almost like a North Star to guide her (“I want to keep my family relationships healthy”) and a date (2017-- four years from now). We used these to develop the outline of a plan by posting our flag at four years out and working backward from there. We left blank spaces for what we didn’t know and built a list of plans, processes and questions to help her fill in the blanks.
It reminded me of project planning where you’ve got a concrete project that needs to be done and a deadline for completion. You use that future completion date and work backwards from there to come up with key project milestones and interim completion dates.
It was the same for her, only there were a lot more blank spaces along her path. But that’s ok, because she had a long range vision coming into focus on the horizon and a North Star to guide her. It’s a little like sailing to Hawaii. While your actual route along the way probably will change according to weather and sea conditions, you know you want to eventually end up in Hawaii. Besides your final destination, one of the few things you do know for sure is that your route will and should change according to the new information you gain along the way. But Hawaii still remains at the same longitude and latitude.
Facing a personal or professional potential quagmire? Focus on what you do know, not on what you don’t. Determine your own North Star to get moving forward and keep yourself on track.
Lauren Owen
Lauren Owen, Redpoint Succession and Leadership Coaching
Lauren works with businesses leaders who want to develop and execute succession plans, sharpen their business practices, strengthen their leadership, and create long-lasting value in their businesses. She is a certified Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Leadership Coach. She is also a leader of the Excell Puget Sound Southend Group.
(206) 427-2856, (253) 245.3518
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