Evaluating Successors - Have You Clearly Communicated Reasonable Expecations

For up-and-coming successor candidates in family businesses, oftentimes their evaluation is not altogether objective or even reasonable. Family member employees live in a fishbowl where nothing they do is seemingly ever good enough. The good stuff they do is seen simply as par for the course. And frankly, that's often because no one in the organization gets a lot of affirmation for their hard work, so why should the "heir apparent." Yet, the errors of successor candidates often become mountains rather than the molehills they are. This reality is not fair. A major reason we end up facing significant challenges with successor candidates in family businesses is because they often come into the business with little to no communication about what's expected of them. Expectations can cover everything from performance to attitude and behavior. To read the ending of this blog, click here.