Succession planning is a critical milestone for business owners and senior managers as they end their careers. The most enduring impact of a leader is the legacy he or she leaves behind. Creating a long-term legacy after succession means shifting from operational control to strategic influence, and from day-to-day management, to stewardship of the company’s vision, mission, culture, and values.
The predecessor’s leadership doesn’t end with the successor – when done right, it evolves. Here are seven tips for how leaders can proactively shape a legacy that lasts well beyond their tenure:
- Define the Legacy You Want to Leave:
A lasting legacy begins with clarity. The leader should start this journey by asking:
- What values do I want this organization to embody long after I’m gone ?
- What impact should our work continue to have on customers, employees, suppliers, subcontractors, the local community, and our other stakeholders ? and
- What about the organization am I most proud — and how can that be preserved or built upon ?
Call to Action: Document your legacy and share it with the board, management team, family, and employees. This narrative should serve as a compass for future decisions.
- Include the Company’s Culture in Your Legacy Statement:
Strategies evolve, markets change, and business models pivot over time. Culture, on the other hand, is the heartbeat of any organization and is far less malleable. A business rooted in a strong, values-driven culture is a powerful legacy trait.
- Document the organization’s cultural values, beliefs, and practices;
- Create rituals and traditions that embody those principles; and
- Model and reward employee behaviors that align with the company’s culture.
Call to Action: Culture outlives leaders when it is deeply embedded into how decisions are made and how people treat one another.
- Mentor the Successor, Then Step Aside:
Effective succession isn’t just handing over the reins — it’s preparing the next leader to lead in their own right.
- Provide mentorship without micromanagement;
- Share historical context, critical relationships, and lessons learned; and
- Encourage them to innovate, not just imitate.
Call to Action: When the time is right, step aside. Your legacy will grow stronger as you empower others to shape the future on their own terms.
- Institutionalize the Collective Wisdom of the Organization:
Turn the skills, knowledge, and experiences of managers into institutional knowledge:
- Create founder’s or leadership letters that explain the “why” behind key decisions;
- Support management development programs that reflect the company’s leadership philosophy; and
- Establish advisory boards or councils where you can contribute strategically without dictating to or overshadowing new leaders.
Call to Action: Wisdom becomes a legacy when it’s shared and accessible, not hoarded and eventually forgotten.
- Champion Purpose Over Personality:
Sustainable legacies aren’t about personalities: they’re about a larger purpose. Leaders need to transition from being the face of the business to the voice for the company’s mission.
- Leaders should align their post-succession involvement, which could include speaking engagements, philanthropy, advocacy, etc. with the organization’s broader purpose; and
- Support initiatives that extend impact beyond the organization, like industry improvement, social engagement, or education impact.
Call to Action: The more your legacy is tied to a purpose rather than a person, the longer it will endure.
- Leave Room for Reinvention:
A healthy legacy allows space for reinvention. Efforts to freeze the business in your image, on the other hand, stifles growth. Encourage adaptation by:
- Celebrating innovation that aligns with the business values you’ve championed;
- Avoiding criticizing the new direction, unless it contradicts the organization’s core values, ethics or integrity; and
- Understanding that evolution is part of the transition to the next generation of leadership.
Call to Action: Your name will be more respected if it’s associated with bold progress and enduring values.
- Give Back Thoughtfully:
A legacy also lives on through how the leader gives back.
- Consider setting up a foundation, scholarship, or endowment in your name or the name of the company;
- Contribute to industry knowledge through writing, mentoring, or speaking; and
- Invest in community initiatives tied to your company’s charitable causes and/or commitment to the community.
Call to Action: Giving back is one of the most visible and powerful ways to brand the business and cement your contribution beyond the walls of your company.
Conclusion:
A legacy isn’t an asset that the exiting owner leaves behind: it’s the thoughts, experience, knowledge, examples, skills, etc. that get transferred from the exiting owner to the next generation of leaders. The focus of this transition is not about clinging to the past but providing a framework of ideas to guide the next generation of leaders. After succession, the role of the exiting leader transforms from decision-maker to a cheerleader of the company’s values.
The best legacies live in the culture the business owner has nurtured, the people he or she has empowered, the purpose he or she has protected, and the positive impact he or she have catalyzed.
Did you like the content in this article ? For more information about business exit and succession planning, the author has posted his entire series of business exit and succession planning articles on the media page of his website at www.greaterprairiebusinessconsulting.com.
About Greater Prairie Business Consulting, Inc.:
Greater Prairie Business Consulting, Inc. is an award-winning, national consulting practice serving entrepreneurs, small to mid-sized privately held and family-owned businesses and middle-market companies of any type with revenues between $1 million and $250 million. The firm helps small, mid-sized, and middle market companies maximize their performance and exit.
Greater Prairie Business Consulting, Inc. can be reached by calling 1-800-828-7585 or e-mailing info@gpbusinesssolutions.com.
About the Author:
James J. Talerico, Jr. is an award-winning author, blogger, speaker, and nationally recognized small to mid-sized (SMB) business expert.
With more than thirty- (30) years of diversified business experience, Jim has a solid track record and an A+ BBB rating helping thousands of business owners across the US and in Canada tackle tough business problems to improve the performance of their organizations.
His client success stories have been highlighted in the Wall St. Journal, Dallas Business Journal, Chicago Daily Herald, and on MSNBC’s Your Business. He was named “Texas Business Consulting CEO of the Year,” by CEO Today Magazine, identified as a “Top 10 Management Consulting Entrepreneur to Watch” by Entrepreneur Magazine, was listed among the “10 Most Visionary Companies to Watch” by Inc. Magazine, and has also been ranked among the “Top Small Business Consultants” followed on Twitter.
For more than half a decade, Jim was a regular guest on “The Price of Business,” a nationally syndicated radio program on Bloomberg Talk Radio and has also appeared as a subject matter expert on many FOX Radio interviews. He is a regular contributor to several blog sites and has frequently been quoted in publications like the New York Times, Dallas Morning News, Philadelphia Inquirer, The Entrepreneur’s Review, and on INC.com, in addition to numerous, other industry publications, radio broadcasts, business books, and Internet media.
Jim received a Gold “Stevie Award” for “Thought Leader of the Year,” a Gold “Stevie Award” for “Media Hero of the Year During Covid” and a Bronze “Stevie Award” for “Best Entrepreneur” in the Category of “Business and Professional Services” at the American Business Awards ® in New York City. The competition received more than 3,700 nominations and is the premier accolade for business excellence in the US honoring organizations of all sizes and industries. Jim also received an “Outstanding Leadership Award” at the Money 2.0 Conference for his contributions to the financial services industry.
Jim is the author of “8 Steps to Becoming an ETHICS FOCUSED ORGANIZATION,™” a small business certification program that utilizes a unique eight – (8) step approach for strengthening ethics in any organization. The certification program won the Better Business Bureau’s “Torch Award for Ethics” for the North – Central Texas Region, the International Better Business Bureau’s “ Torch Award for Ethics,” and a Gold “Stevie Award” for “Ethics in Sales” at the International Sales & Customer Service Stevie Awards®. Participants who complete this certification program are eligible to receive eight – (8) continuing education units from the University of Texas’ Division of Enterprise Development.
Jim received his Certified Business Exit Consultant (CBEC)® designation from The International Exit Planning Association (IEPA) to help entrepreneurs, small business owners, family businesses, and middle market companies maximize their business exit, and he received his certification in succession planning from the ASPE.
Jim is also a Certified Management Consultant (CMC)® and an active member of the Institute of Management Consultants. The Certified Management Consultant® mark is awarded by the Institute of Management Consultants USA (IMC USA) and represents evidence of the highest standards of consulting, a commitment to continuous development, and an adherence to the ethical canons of the profession. Less than 1% of all consultants in the world are Certified Management Consultants (CMC.)®
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