Ownership transition is a top priority for your firm.
But transferring ownership is not the issue -- it's transferring
leadership. Many leaders know intuitively that their real
concern is not the mechanics of transferring equity; the
firm's worth and a purchase process can easily be organized
by a financial consultant or lawyer.
The leader's deepest concern is that of transferring
the practice of leadership, and the art of leading this
particular firm, to the incoming leader. AMI can assist
you and your firm with:
- developing an ownership/leadership transition plan
and process;
- identifying potential leaders;
- developing their leadership skills and personal leadership
style at every stage in their careers;
- preparing the firm to manage the changes inherent
in transition;
- high-level facilitation to help a new leadership group
develop alignment, consensus, and coherence.
After working for over ten years with hundreds of emerging
leaders, AMI has identified three key points about ownership/leadership
transition. Our work in assisting ownership/leadership
transition is based on these points:
Leaders are made, not born -- given the right raw materials.
AMI believes that the charismatic capacity to sell work
and make money is not the primary qualification of a leader.
A leader's character traits will shape how that person
attains the firm's goals, therefore by finding those who
manifest combinations of integrity, ethics, courage, grace,
dignity, compassion, zeal, loyalty and perseverence, the
firm can find and develop leaders capable of achieving
a wide spectrum of goals.
Leadership seminars don't tell you the whole story. What
prospective leaders learn about leadership must harmonize
with their real life experience in the firm. While classroom
learning can be useful and easy to absorb, if it isn't
grounded in the reality of their day-to-day experiences,
future leaders will quickly abandon what they've learned.
Leaders-in-training need to see that what they learn about
leadership is backed up by the behavior and attitudes
of the firm's current leaders. Today's leaders must embody
the values they expect to see the next generation carry
forward.
This can't be done in 10 years. Preparing leaders is
an ongoing, continuous endeavor that can take an entire
career, not something that can be done in five years.
Leaders can prepare for eventual succession by hiring
entry-level professionals with the character traits and
potential to lead, then preparing them not only in the
months prior to transition, but right from the beginning
and at every stage of their careers. Firms can resolve
that leadership development be a key part of the firm's
work, for instance by giving people leadership objectives
along with their growing project responsibilities.
Please call our office to learn more about Ownership/Leadership
Transition Services through AMI.
