We are looking for a capable leader to replace our board director who passed away,” says a second-generation CEO of a family retail business. “My friend is very qualified, but my brothers refuse because they say he might take our jobs! We have a slight majority, but we have many partners in the business. But I believe my friend is the most capable, and even if he takes over, I don’t mind. What do we do?”
You did not give enough details about your business, but unless the company is in trouble or your performance is below par, board members usually do not plan a hostile takeover.
Having said that, I find it interesting that you don’t mind losing your job to someone who appears to be capable.
Tell your brothers to do succession planning, not just for the business, but for the board as well.
Lord Charles Allen of Kensington, chair of global conglomerate ISS, once told Singapore’s Business Times: “Succession planning is the key for my boards, so there is always a need for people coming through. You need to have that mindset that I would recruit, who I think would be particularly good in that area—somebody better than me. You’ve got to pass the baton.”
Deal with change
“I have been in middle management in a family business in Manila for 20 years,” says a female reader. “I get along with the owners, but the company is hiring lots of new people, younger and better paid than me. They have MBAs, corporate experience, more skills. The owners say they will never let me go, but I am already 50. How can I deal with the new hires?”
You recognize the reason for the recruitment of the young, and you are open to change. I don’t detect any animosity on your part towards your younger colleagues, but it helps to use the owners’ perspective.
“Take a zoom in and out approach and look at change from different perspectives—as the shareholder, the manager, the client, the employee,” says Singapore consultant Shamantha Yan in The Straits Times.
Dealing with changes in the workplace requires learning new or updating old skills, such as in IT, investments, etc. Check out online courses and training seminars, and determine if the company can foot the bill for these.
Fifty may be the new 30, but I agree that learning something complex may not be as easy now as it was before, so recognize that your efforts may require time and commitment, and brace yourself.
Super-agers
Work hard and delay aging. Psychologist Lisa Feldman Barrett and colleagues at the Massachusetts General Hospital scanned the brains of super-agers, adults in their 60s or above, and concluded that they were as mentally sharp as those aged 25.
“Hard work makes you feel bad in the moment. The Marine Corps has a motto: ‘Pain is weakness leaving the body.’ Super-agers are like marines. They excel at pushing past the temporary unpleasantness of intense effort … the result is a more youthful brain that helps maintain a sharper memory and a greater ability to pay attention,” says Barrett in The New York Times.
Queena N. Lee-Chua is on the board of directors of the
Ateneo Family Business Center. Get her book “Successful Family Businesses” (e-mail msanagustin@ateneo.edu). Contact the author at blessbook.chua@gmail.com.