Succession Secrets

Succession Secrets

By Steve PredaBusiness
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Succession Secrets episodes

  • 057 - Biggest Mistakes when Pursuing Succession
    What can go wrong with succession. Today, I am answering Jeremy’s (North Chesterfield, VA) question, from the perspective of business owners and leaders.

    I believe there are four common reasons:
    1. Hoping that you get lucky
  • Looking for your alter ego
  • Trying to mentor successors on your own
  • Relying on the successor for your pension

    • As you may surmise from the above bullets, succession is not a slam-dunk. The biggest mistake people make is that it is about finding the perfect successor who will run the business as well, or better than the founder. 

    A better approach is to think about the organization first and the people second. Even if you found the perfect candidate, she or he will still be human and can be poached, get full of themselves and slack off in the comfort of a nice salary and the corner office.

    Tune into the show to listen to the details. 

    And please don’t forget to review the show on iTunes. It will help it reach more of us succession seekers.

    Your succession is success.

    10 min
  • 056 - Be Your Own Investor
    Many founders believe that bringing on an investor is a great idea. They see it as a “seal of approval” that they have a valuable business and they might also enjoy the security of a salary or making money from offloading a few shares.

    Bringing on a VC or Private Equity investor can, of course be justified when the company needs to scale quickly to preempt the competition from catching up with the idea, or when there is only profitable room for a single player in a niche.

    On the other hand too many founder give up too much for too little when they raise money from professional investors.

    In today’s show, we discuss what investors bring, what they say they bring and what they definitely don’t bring. The answers might surprise you. Listen to the show to learn the pitfalls of having a professional investor and what alternatives are available to avoid bringing one on.

    Tune in on iTunes and leave a review, if you like the show.

    Your succession is success!

    17 min
  • 055 - Are you Driven Away, or pulled towards
    We can be driven by different forces to get to the next level.  Some people are primarily driven from a situation, a job they can’t grow any more in, or a position that doesn’t fulfill them, or a boss who is a jerk.  Others are motivated by a desire to fulfill a specific ambition.

    I believe the “away motivation” can be very powerful, as it is usually triggered by pain, while “towards motivation” requires desire.  In fact, “desire-pull” is less powerful for most people, while extremely strong for a select few.   In today’s show I discuss the differences in the two sentiments, explain why “driven away” is much more frequent than  “pull towards” and I make the case for why DESIRE is the biggest talent one can possibly have.

    Tune into the show and – if you like it – please rate us on iTunes. It will help us get the word out.

    Your succession is success!

    7 min
  • 054 - You Must Like Them if you Want to Help Them
    Listen to my story of working on selling an old-fashioned metal fabrication business, representing an obnoxious business owner. I resented that man, as he appeared to be undermining the negotiations at every turn, with his distrusting and apparently poisonous attitude. He sensed that I disagreed with him and started to suspect me of having ulterior motives in this deal, out of alignment with the ownership group. 

    He was not leading it but was an influential player of a group of engineer-owners and I realized that I had to return into his confidence if I wanted to salvage the deal.  

    Tune into the show to find out how I managed this feat, while maintaining my integrity and how it can help you serve and sell to difficult people.

    Your succession is success!

    7 min
  • 053 - Why my Friends Ripped Me to Pieces

    Today’s show is about a recent experience of speaking to a group of CEOs on the topic of succession.  One of the ideas I presented turned out to be polarizing the group and generated a heated discussion.  

    In today’s show, I dissect this experience with the benefit of a few days of reflection and analyze the three things I have concluded to have upset some members of my audience. I also reflect about what vulnerability meant to me in that situation and how I could have reacted differently.

     

    I have not revealed too much here, but you can find out the details by tuning into the show.

    Your succession is success!

    10 min
  • 052 - How to Build Your Leadership Muscles
    In today’s show, we discuss how leaders can build up their power to persuade and influence others.

    Leadership is essentially selling your message and to sell anything you first have to believe in your own message with conviction. The first sale is to yourself.

    Listen to the show to learn how you can build credibility with your own eyes. Self-confidence and belief that will allow you to persuade and influence others with your message. I am sharing my story of how as a young fencer I admired and tried to emulate an audacious peer who competed without a shiver of self-doubt against national athletes, 10 years his seniors.   

    Find out how I tried to reverse engineer the secret behind Zoltan’s self-confidence to give myself an edge in my career as a banker and the limits to this strategy as a leader. I am also sharing the strategy that leaders can successfully employ to become unstoppable.

    See you on the show, and remember:  Your succession is success!
     
    Visit Us: https://entrepcoaches.com/steve-preda/
    11 min
  • 051 - Overpowering Negative Energy
    In a recent Vistage meeting, my members were fuming about having to deal with complaining and negative employees. How it drains their energy and focus and pulls them into a space where they hate to be. As a result of some of them sometimes hide in their office to not have to deal with this toxicity.

    Sounds familiar?

    Tune into today’s show to find out how to turn the table on the complainers. How by refusing to play on their terms you can go from reactive to proactive mode by overpowering their negativity.

    You don’t have to go as far as Steve Jobs, who created a “reality distortion field” to neutralize a negative atmosphere and re-energize people around you.

    6 min
  • 050 - Personality Traits of Future Leaders
    Today’s question came from Mike in Richmond, VA.

    Mike, leadership is eternal, and the traits of future leaders will be identical to that of the past. The only thing that is changing is the media, but even there we can count on public speaking remaining relevant. Just witness the presidential race.

    In today’s episode, I share with you the seven most critical traits of a leader. The number one is “inspiring”, as we want our leaders to fire us up to get the work done. The second trait is “visionary”, as we must keep a tangible goal in front of us to progress. The third trait is being “articulate”. No one will listen to a message, which is not articulated clearly and compellingly.

    Tune into the show to find out the remaining four leadership traits and why they are important.

    If you would like me to answer your question, tweet it to #asksuccessionsteve, or email it to [email protected].

    Your Succession is Success!

    8 min
  • 049 - How to Transition a Decorated, but Toothless Employee
    This is a question from Landon, who lives in Ashland, VA.

    Landon, what do you mean by “transition”? Is it about firing that person, or moving him sideways or to another organization? Would he accept a lower position and lower pay or that would just make him more bitter?

    Why is he no longer contributing? Is it lack of skill, energy, or poor attitude? If skill, is he coachable? Can he learn new skills?

    If it is the energy, is it a temporary situation or an old-dog-new-tricks problem?

    How about the attitude problem? Is he toxic, or just down and out?

    In today’s episode, we discuss the three risks of firing such an employee and how to mitigate them.  We also analyze how to handle a toxic employee.

    Tune into the show and let me know what you think.

    Your Succession is Success!
    8 min
  • 048 - What Triggers the Succession Decision
    In today’s episode, I answer Mark’s question from Henrico, VA.

    The bigger question is whether to do it or not. Then you must decide on your timing.

    The do or not decision depends on three things: (1) Do you have something more compelling to do, (2) Are you bored and must force yourself with an exit or succession process to move on to a new life-phase, or (3) You can’t do it anymore – ill health, burn out or diminished business prospects are in your way to carrying on.

    In terms of timing, on today’s show, we discuss 5 drivers that influence your decision as to when to pull the trigger. One of them if your magic number – if you have one. The cash you need to make it worth your while to hand over your baby to a buyer or successor. It may be your retirement nest egg, or the cash you need for your philanthropic endeavors or the number you think you are good for. Either way, it is helpful to have a target to work towards.

    Listen to today’s episode of the Succession Secrets show to find out about the other 4 drivers. Tune into iTunes or your favorite podcast app to listen to the show, or read the transcripts on http://entrepcoaches.com/podcast.    

    If you enjoy the show, please rate us on iTunes. It helps.

    Your Succession is Success!
    9 min

About Succession Secrets

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Daily bite-size life lessons and insights, from Succession Coach, Entrepreneur, former Investment Banker and Father of Four. Visit Us: https://entrepcoaches.com