“I never want to go through this again.”
That is a statement I’ve heard more than once over the last five months. Business Owners who have gone through one too many of these crisis situations. The stress that weighs on them has really put them over the edge this time. And now the question is: “How to I groom the next generation of this business to take over?” Seems easy, right?
For most, its not. Those same business owners have looked around their company and realized they don’t have the next generation of leadership. And, hiring from outside – that’s very scary. So, they keep on fighting another day. They keep leading the team and carrying the stress and burden.
The reason they don’t have the next level of leadership, often times, is because they chose a life of reverse delegation. Not allowing strong people to do the what needs to be done. They didn’t have a way to encourage others to join their journey and ended up with a high payroll and low productivity. And today, when they want to think about retirement, they can only think of all the “stuff” that isn’t done, that they now have to do.
I’ve helped so many of these business owners find their way to delegate themselves out of the day to day so the next level of leadership can man the helm. Here are a few things to consider:
Have a system that guides how the business is run, with discipline and accountability top of mind. You know I am a giant fan of EOS® for just this!
Have a simple set of guiding principles or Core Values that guide who is part of your team. We can be from all walks of life and share the same Core Values. It means a lot when you spend 8-10+ hours a day with those you work with!
Have a vision, and a team that shares it. This goes without saying, but… If you want your business to achieve something great, but you are ready to have someone else get it there: you need a crystal clear vision and a team that knows how and wants to make it happen.
Create an environment of Accountability. I teach the EOS® tool “Accountability Chart” to help with this. You know who is accountable for what area of the business and they will know their career path. This will help to identify the next generation.
Trust them to do the job they’ve said they can do. Verify their work through a scorecard or score board.
Document they way you want it done! We forget that we have to write down and train our team on the way a task, or job should be done. We assume they know. This is where delegation goes so off track, because they don’t know.
Notice I didn’t say anything about Family. Often, the business owners who are the most frustrated are the ones who have family working in the organization. They aren’t ready to take over and there is no real path for the owner to make that happen. They follow the same guidelines as any other employee. They have to do what they are accountable to do, just like every one else.
Family or not, with the right tools in place, the team will truly flourish into a well-oiled machine. The trust will grow and it will be very easy to see the next generation of Leadership.
Grooming the next generation should be a fun, rewarding task that should leave you feeling ready for your next adventure. A Business Management System, like EOS® can help with this.
If you would like to learn more about how this can help you, visit www.heightenedleaders.com and schedule a call with Megan. She’ll walk you through what it could look like for you.