Introduction

Abstract

When I was a young consultant and family business leaders asked me for advice on succession planning, I would be very clear on one particular point: “You need to set a date for your retirement, and you need to stick to it.” It didn’t take me long to realize that I wouldn’t have many clients left if I insisted on that idea. While I still think it’s good advice, I learned that it didn’t fit with a tremendous number of family businesses. And because it didn’t, I found that the notion essential to succession, that the incumbent leader will leave the business so that the next generation can take over, needed to be approached in a different way.