December 2010 Archive for Leave a Legacy

From Legacy Moment eNewsletter (12/24/2010)
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As promised in the last eNewsletter, the first secret to planning success is: Learn and use good communication.

Communication is the heartbeat of family business. Learning to talk in a respectful and constructive manner is necessary for planning success. Good communication will help the family not only to navigate succession planning, it also will help them grow and develop in the months and years ahead.

-  Regular meetings

-  Written agendas

-  Behavioral guidelines

-  A decision-making process

-  Written/taped records of each meeting

-  Follow-up

If you haven’t yet attended a Farm Journal Legacy Project Workshop, consider attending one in 2011. The workshops will again be held in at least 10 different venues across the Midwest. In the first year, we hosted 2,000 participants.

   

 

 

From Legacy Moment eNewsletter (12/17/2010)
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In the 2011 Legacy Project Workshop, I will focus on five secrets to planning success.  When a family uses these secrets, they'll create a succession road map designed to achieve results.  The workshop series for 2011 is titled "Plan Success.  Enjoy Life."  I think you will do just that when you adhere to the following secrets of good planning:

1. Learn and use good communication.

2. Define common objectives.

3. Overcome common obstacles.

4. Fortify the operation.

5. Take definitive action.

Over the next five weeks I'll expound on these secrets and prove links to online tools that will help make your succession dreams a reality.

  
News & Resources for You

New Year’s resolutions? Watch the Legacy Project website to register for workshops. Venues for February and March include Ames, Iowa; Johnston, Iowa; Grand Island, Neb.; Madison, Wis.; Owatonna, Minn.; and Sioux Falls, S.D. See the workshop agenda. 

From Legacy Moment eNewsletter (12/10/2010)
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Planning for next year is on the to-do list of the Legacy Project and Legacy by Design. As I begin to look more deeply into the opportunities and obligations of our client relationships, it has become clear that there are two distinctive ways to look at business obligations/duties/responsibilities/actions: each has a strategic and an operational purpose.  

FAQ’s… commonly asked questions about succession planning.

From Legacy Moment eNewsletter (12/03/2010)
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It’s that time of year. We’ve all heard the cliché "hope is not a plan," so now is the time to plan for next year and the next chapter of your business. The best part of planning is the creative idea-storming that precedes the written document. Follow these five hints to begin the process:

1. Schedule a planning meeting with your management team. Before the meeting, distribute pertinent business/financial/market information that may help to inform the team and encourage productive dialogue. 
    
2. Establish some planning meeting behavior guidelines. The meeting should not become a management-driven diatribe, but rather a dialogue among a mutually dependent team of professionals.
   
   
3. Allow each participant time to act and react. Carefully consider each person’s input; as a part of the management team, their input will be valuable because they see the world differently than you. Listen and learn.
   
   
4. Consider utilizing an outside facilitator and meeting in an offsite (neutral) location. Both of these factors promote discussion beyond the hierarchal chain of command. People, especially subordinates, need to feel safe in order to speak freely and willingly offer suggestions.
   
   
5. Conclude the meeting with a strategy for follow-up. Divide action tasks/responsibilities across the management team, including due dates and expected levels of performance. Inclusion depends on each person’s verbal input, physical contribution, continuing support and implementation. It all begins in the planning stages.

• A Lesson from the Golden Eggs (Our most requested ‘Leave a Legacy’ column, first printed in early 2008.)

• Snowy day? Catch up on archived episodes of Leave a Legacy TV.

• We invite you to ask Kevin about your succession planning concerns.

• Sign up for, or learn more about, Legacy Project Workshops in December:
  Dec. 8 in Columbus, Ohio
  Dec. 10 in Lansing, Michigan
  Dec. 16 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania