PEOPLE SMARTS Time for Some Personal Reflection?

Exhausted, he dropped into the desk  chair and glanced at the wall clock. 8:38 p.m. Where had the day gone? He couldn’t remember when he’d left the house that morning, but he did know it was before daylight. 

Larry Fish

His first stop was an installation site where he had hoped to find one of his crews unloading equipment. But no one was in sight and nothing was happening. When his people finally did arrive an hour later, his foreman said, “Sorry Boss, two guys were late and the truck had a dead battery.” He looked over the foreman’s shoulder and saw the steaming cup of fresh coffee and bag of doughnuts on the truck's dashboard. Another excuse, he thought. Am I the only one who cares anymore?
 
He propped his head up with his hands  and thought about what he had seen when he had pulled into the yard earlier that morning. Just outside the maintenance shed was a fairly new reel mower that had been out all night in the rain. Little beads of rust were already starting to form on the handles. Someone had been working on it yesterday and forgot to pull it inside out of the weather. He opened the door to the office and walked in. Four of his people were talking. “Did anyone call XYZ Co. to see when we’re going to get the last payment on that $30,000 installation we finished? It’s more than 90 days past due.” There was no answer.
 
As he walked down the hall to his office, he noticed how few papers there were on other peoples’ desks. In his own office, however, it was a different story. His desk was buried under a pile of unpaid invoices, phone messages and unfinished paperwork.
 
This is a business owner’s worst nightmare. It’s the tale of an entrepreneur with a good business idea and the commitment to make it work. But as the business began to expand through new customers, products, equipment and people, the skills, knowledge and methods that served the owner well in the beginning were no longer sufficient to ensure the company’s  long-term growth.

 
In past People Smarts columns, I suggested success and succession were two important factors in the long-term survivability of a growing business. I’ve spoken with owners of growing businesses to help crystallize the notion of success. One  owner actually called me to talk about selling his business. “Why?,” I asked. “It’s driving me nuts and I am burned out. I just want to get out from under it.”
 
Now, I don’t know whether his business was going anywhere or if it was even a viable candidate for an acquisition. The point is that here was a business that someone had started up, grown and now wanted to get out from under. Was this owner a victim of his own success? The toughest job, I believe, is developing and implementing a game plan to handle long-term success.
 
Long-term survivability depends upon two things: how well success is handled and  succession. Handling success is like lifting weights. Everyone has a limit and sooner or later needs help. Handling success means you now have an expanding base of both customers and employees who depend on you, and by-the-seat-of-your-pants management will not cut it.
 
Planning for succession is a success by-product. It is another defining moment for the entrepreneur because it means a well-planned effort to staff key positions in the company with people who have the potential for future leadership roles.
 
Let’s now make a resolution for 2007 to address these planning issues that routinely have you in your office at 8:38 p.m. (or later) alone and feeling totally out of control.

Larry Fish is president of GreenSearch, a human resource consulting organization. He can be reached at 888/375-7787, peoplesmarts@gie.net or via www.greensearch.com. PeopleSmarts® is a registered trademark of GreenSearch.