A board member of the Exit Planning Institute distinguishes succession from exit planning. True succession means building bench strength 5 to 20 years out by systematically identifying and developing key talent, so your organization is ready for change before you need it.
In fact, I sit on the board of the Orange County chapter of the Exit Planning Institute, and they use succession primarily to mean exit planning, which we don't do, but we collaborate with exit planners specifically. Succession as we see it is holistic. It's for the entire organization. It's how you prepare your organization for long-term success, and most firms don't do this. So if you look at where you want to be as an organization in 5, 10, 20 years and say, all right, what is the future org chart going to look like? How do we prepare the organization regardless of who's in what seats today? So if you identify, assess, and develop key individuals, you build your bench strength, if you will. You're always prepared for whatever happens.
How Can You Maximize Your Business Value Before Selling? with Randy Katz Video
