Why you may not be the best choice
Often the best move for family business owners is to replace themselves as president. They need to bring in someone else with more leadership skills, ability, and talent who can build and develop their biggest, most important asset: the company. Family membership is not a necessary qualification.
Johnny is a case in point. For years, he complained of the burden of running the $250 million company that he had grown from scratch with his dad. He did not like having to teach and support everybody. Finally, he made Laura—his operations VP and a very talented woman who was not a family member—the president. She proceeded to work with the company’s great leadership group and grow the organization despite a poor economy. The company achieved all their financial targets and opened a new plant.
Johnny is still chairman of the board and is semi-retired. “I exercise and do a lot of fishing,” he recently told me. “I like the Green River, but sometimes I go fishing in Colorado.” I spent several days with him on a trip overseas and had never seen him so relaxed and emotionally available; all because he recognized he was not the right person for the job and replaced himself in the role.
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