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Future Leadership
by Dr. Rick Johnson
March 06, 2010
This isn’t just about succession in the family business. Of course, that in itself is quite a challenge. How do we as first or second generation owners get our sons and daughters ready to take over the helms of the business? Do they really want to? Are they competent enough to do it? These questions and many more often dominate your thoughts as you contemplate stepping aside and allowing the next generation to take over. There are numerous issues and challenges facing the privately held family owned business when it comes to succession. If you fall into that category, e-mail rick@ceostartegist.com and receive a sample guide on “Leadership Succession in the Family Business”.
Succession planning should be a critical core initiative in your strategic planning process for every key management position within your company. I have written numerous articles in the past on coaching and mentoring skills. These are very definitive skills that are a must for successful leadership. But, coaching and mentoring by you and your managers even if they have been trained, and the majorities aren’t, may not be enough.
Coaching as a Best Practice
Executive coaching may soon be entering the arena of “Best Practice” in this business century. Just a few years ago, many corporate executives pooh-poohed the idea of coaching as just a fad or psychobabble aimed at eroding the bottom line. The common objection was, where's the ROI, return on investment? Even those more progressive companies that welcomed innovation and creativity still considered it a luxury expense.
The growth in executive coaches from 1995 to 2009 has risen by five hundred per cent. Today we have over 10,000 executive coaches doing business in the US.
The higher you are in the management hierarchy, the more solitary the decision-making base becomes. Regardless of your experience, you can use a third party whose future does not rest on one decision or an action. Sometimes listening to yourself explain an issue, defend a position or just brainstorming provides the kind of clarity that is often missing in your normal day to day thought process.
An effective coach will concentrate on one thing: improving your performance or your team's performance as leaders. This is not an easy task because they effectively must help you help yourself by guiding you or your team in making the most out of your natural abilities and finding ways to improve upon or work around independent weaknesses. Many coaches, including myself, may request that the executive allow them to interview the management team to get a perspective on leadership within the organization that is not singularly biased by the executives’ personal opinion. Additionally, utilizing a personality profile test like the Winslow is highly recommended.
- Confidentiality ---- A coach must observe client privilege similar to what attorneys practice. Sharing information with upper management must be approved by the person being coached. Remember, coaching is about success not failure. If a client is not coachable, the coach has an obligation to cancel the arrangement.
- Expectations ---- The individual goals must always be in alignment with the corporate goals. This is rarely a problem but all parties must be clear on their expectations.
- Communication ---- Reference confidentiality, however, information gathering is often necessary. Interviewing of management team members may be necessary but must be approved up front.
- Objectives ---- Objectives are set during the initial coaching call as precall prep work is discussed. Focus on weaknesses and behavior modification is generally part of this process.