The most incredible thing happened this year…. I became a grandfather! Not to be overly presumptive, but it was inevitable. My wife, Jennifer, and I have five children. We have always known that eventually one of our children would have children one day. We had a baby girl, and her name is Savannah Mae. She is beautiful, just like my daughter! 😊 For those who are grandparents, you know all too well how amazing it is to watch your baby have a baby of their own. I’m writing this blog seven months in. The reality of being a grandpa and watching my baby become a mother is setting in with every moment that passes, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for our family.
Of course, new life gets me thinking about the bigger meaning of our existence and part of my contemplation of life brought to mind my work and what, if any, parallels I could draw between having a new grandbaby and what it means to be a business owner and an executive recruiter that helps great companies recruit great people. The parallel that occurred to me was succession planning. It’s so natural for us to have family and a desire to carry on the family lineage. Family life is important in maintaining our human existence and carrying on our core values that, we hope, have a positive impact on humanity and the greater good. But isn’t it the same in our companies? Shouldn’t we be creating and setting up our companies and teams for future leaders? Who can take what they have learned from us and maximize their effort to impact their generation and the one that will follow?
My good friend, Dan Spencer III teaches grandfathers about “multigenerational” evangelization. It’s our responsibility as grandfathers to keep pushing, educating and equipping the next generation to stay the course and have a positive impact on their families now as well as into the future… even into eternity. I hope to have that kind of impact on Savannah!
Eternity would be a lofty goal for any business but the next 10, 20 and even 30 years are not out of reach for most business owners. The consulting firm, Gallagher has one of the “best practices” for succession planning that any company contemplating “who’s ready next” should probably review. The image below is a summary from their post The 10 Best Practices for Succession Planning Make Certain Your “Who’s Ready Next” List is Solid and with the new year rapidly approaching, I’m committing to start looking at who’s ready next in my company. How about you?
