Leadership Teams Put the Success in Succession

Summary: When most owner-advisors talk to me about succession planning, the first thing they tell me is the value of their business (based on a recent valuation or a model formula). Then they spell out their plan for how the partners should pay for it. They think succession is about the numbers, and what they are usually looking for is a spreadsheet for how it's going to work. When it comes my turn to talk, I tell them that's all very nice and ask, “What have you done to groom your successors into leaders?”