Robert A. Sedlák
Founder and CEO transformis Consulting SE | Guest Professor ECNU Shanghai | Certified Business Mediator (German Mediation Act) | Head of the Family Businesses competence team
Succession in transformation
Succession Coaching
Advising and accompanying successors and the outgoing generation individually in their new roles.
A generational transition changes everyone's role. Successors have to take on responsibility while freeing themselves from the patterns of their parents' generation. Those handing over have to let go of something that has often shaped them for decades. Succession coaching gives both sides a protected space in which to reflect on and shape these transitions.
What you come away with
- A clarified understanding of the role and a personal development brief
- Considered options for action in specific transition situations
- Agreed ways of working together between the outgoing and the incoming generation
How we work
- 01
Clarify the mandate
Agree concerns, goals, framework and confidentiality with everyone involved.
- 02
Reflect on the situation
Work on expectations, understanding of the role and specific leadership situations.
- 03
Try out
Test new approaches in the day-to-day handover.
- 04
Evaluate
Discuss experiences and define the next development step.
Preparing successors for the role
Anyone stepping into a leadership role has to fit into existing structures while also examining how far those structures suit their own personality and leadership style. Coaching addresses the expectations of family, shareholders and employees, the successor's own understanding of the role and first priorities. Specific leadership situations are reflected on and new approaches are tried out in practice.
Accompanying the outgoing generation
Many business owners have invested a large part of their life's energy in the company. Stepping back therefore also touches on the personal question of what comes afterwards. If this question is left unaddressed, it can unconsciously exert a strong influence on the succession process. Coaching helps to clarify the future role and to make the withdrawal orderly, consistent and respectful.
Succession is easier when the next generation honours their parents' life's work and the outgoing generation shapes its withdrawal deliberately.
Clarifying the mandate and confidentiality
Successors should be able to seek neutral advice without risk. Goals, framework and confidentiality are therefore agreed at the outset between the coachee and the client. Coaching does not replace clarifying roles and decision-making rights in the family and the company; where that clarity is missing, we suggest it as a separate step.
Book an initial callTypical tensions in the transition
Succession is a learning process for both generations. Those handing over sometimes unconsciously expect a mirror image of themselves, only younger and without their own weaknesses. Some overlook their children's weaknesses, others do not trust them to lead. Successors, for their part, face the task of setting their own course while honouring their parents' life's work.
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Coaching makes such patterns discussable. Expectations, fears and personal views should be able to be voiced openly, initially in a protected one-to-one setting. Where it makes sense and both sides agree, joint conversations are prepared.
Linking coaching with the handover process
Succession coaching is particularly helpful when it is tied to the actual handover process. Which responsibility passes over when, which decisions does the successor already take alone, and how does the outgoing generation remain involved? These questions change over time and are taken up again and again in coaching.
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At the same time, we keep the limits of coaching in view. If role conflicts stem from unclear decision-making rights or missing agreements within the family, they cannot be resolved on an individual level alone. In that case we propose clarification within the family or shareholder group.
Deliverables: A clarified understanding of the role and a personal development brief; Considered options for action in specific transition situations; Agreed ways of working together between the outgoing and the incoming generation.
Coaching is neither therapy nor aptitude assessment. The content remains confidential unless otherwise agreed. Joint sessions with both generations take place only if both sides consent.
Frequently asked questions
Who is succession coaching for?
For succession candidates from within the family or from outside, and for members of the outgoing generation. Both sides can be coached separately; joint sessions are possible if both agree.
When should coaching begin?
Ideally before responsibility formally passes over. Role, expectations and first steps can then be prepared. Coaching can, however, also be useful during the transition phase or after the takeover, for example for the first months in the new role.
How does succession coaching differ from management coaching?
The methods are similar. Succession coaching, however, explicitly includes the family and ownership dimension: the family's expectations, the relationship between the generations and the withdrawal of the person handing over.
Prefer to talk directly?
What decision are you facing? Together, we clarify your situation, the people involved and the right next step.
Your initial call
Let’s talk about your situation and what you want to develop in your organisation.
- Your situation
- What brings you to us
- Possible next steps