When Is It Time for Me to Give Up Control of My Business?

Kendall Rawls is filling in for Dr. Merlot to answer questions he has received from family business owners across the country.

Before we get started, you may be wondering who is this Dr. Merlot Dude? The Doc is the straight-talking alter ego of Loyd Rawls, who is the founder of The Rawls Group. An alter ego may seem a little silly, but it does provide levity to a topic many people view as heavy. What is funny though, is succession planning is actually a topic owners need to embrace because it creates strategies for them to create the future they envision. One of our mottoes at The Rawls Group is to do good and have, which is just what “Dr. Merlot” provides Click to learn more about Dr. Merlot and Alter Egos.

Now, let’s dig into the question of When is it time for me to give up control of the business?

Dr. Merlot’s Perspective:

The time to give up control is when you have confidence in your qualified successors to be good stewards of control. Confidence and stewardship are everything. High performance does not guarantee high potential, and being a leader is much more than being in charge. Leaders evolve from capacity, confidence, commitment, and experience. Leaders are humble and focused on goals that impact the welfare of the business, those they are leading, and the extended group that depends upon the continued success of the business. Leaders are always pursuing improvement.

Kendall Rawls’ Insight:

The ability to drive performance, growth, and achieving business goals is essential to a good leader and as a qualified successor. And, driving performance, growth, and business goals are directly tied to recruiting, retention, and motivation of people. No matter what your business is, it depends upon people to deliver products and services.

In our ever-changing world, a leader’s ability to communicate effectively with a diversity of people is essential. Research has shown, people stay, or people leave because of the culture. Culture is made up of many things, some key ingredients to the sauce are respect, the opportunity for growth, and shared feedback.

Leadership sets the tone for the culture. So, whoever you have chosen to fill your shoes, ask yourself, how do they make people feel and how are they influencing culture?

If you are unsure of how to answer the question, ask key leaders in your team whom you trust and consider engaging in engagement surveys or a 360 review. According to McKinsey’s Organizational Health Index, there are 4 key qualities people look for in their leaders and ultimately organizational cultures:

• Supportive
• Strong orientation to results
• Seeks different perspectives
• Solves problems effectively

They may not have all the tools right now and the likelihood of anyone having it all is slim to none. However, what you are looking for is someone who can build a team, spot potential, wants to develop others, and exudes trust in those around them.

In addition to the 4 criteria above, below are a few questions to consider as you are evaluating your developing successor capacity and commitment to developing as a leader.

• Are they humble enough to admit what they don’t know and lean on others’ expertise?
• Do they actively say and show trust in their team?
• Do their words match their actions?
• Are they actively pursuing furthering education, coaching, or development?
• Do they ask questions?

Dr. Merlot...