Influence: The Rosetta Stone of post-succession triumph

A successful transition in a family business, or any business, from one generation to the next is dependent upon a variety of factors. But there is a single element to success that every new leader must master to enjoy a smooth transition, and most importantly, a successful post-transition: the ability to influence others. 

A recent Harvard Business Review article called Power, Influence and CEO succession by Dan Champa and Adam Bryant got me thinking about the outsized role influence plays in a successful succession. Whether the succession is happening in a large corporation or a small family business, there are human emotions — not the least of which is ego — at play. The next generation leader must not only convince the employees and management team they are the correct choice to lead the company, but they must convince the outgoing leader that the right decision was made. The outgoing leader has generally done things a certain way for a long time that have made the business successful — and the normal human emotion is to seek validation for a lifetime of work. 

In my work as a family business consultant, I often see the new generation come in wanting to upend everything the current leadership is doing. In these cases, the ego of outgoing leadership is bruised because it feels like everything they’ve done is being written off — putting the company in peril going forward. And the new leadership can buffer their own ego by putting their stamp on everything.