Why you’re the problem! How to build a leadership team that runs without you

As a business owner, you’ve probably poured your heart and soul into your firm. You’re the face of the brand and the linchpin that holds everything together.

This may work fine now. But if you want to exit your business – and everybody exits – it’s crucial that your leadership team can run the ship without you at the helm.

If everything relies on you, you’re not selling a business: you’re selling yourself. This isn’t likely to attract buyers, especially if you’re planning to immediately retire or move on to a new venture.

A business that’s easy to run is easy to sell.

Yet, passing the torch can take time. So, whether you’re planning to exit in one year or five, now is the time to start upskilling the future leaders in your team.

Buyers love a self-sufficient leadership team

Maybe everything’s working just fine with you in control.

Do you really need to spend the time and money nurturing rising stars in your firm? You like being in charge, do you have to hand over the reins?

In a word, YES. If you want a share sale (and to achieve a good price), you have to make your business run without you.

Buyers hate key-person dependency because it’s a threat to business continuity. If that person leaves or becomes ill, the rest of the firm is likely to fall down like a house of cards.

And this risk will probably reduce the value of your business – buyers won’t want to pay a premium, knowing that everything hinges on one person, who is probably retiring as part of the deal.

On the other hand, if you have a strong, self-sufficient leadership team in place, this risk shrinks. What’s more, buyers will be reassured that the business can thrive and grow after you’re gone.

So, upskilling your top talent could ultimately help you attract more buyers and a higher sale price.

What an awesome leadership team looks like

It’s hard to achieve a goal without a clear vision of what success looks like.

Happily, the Melo team has oodles of experience training and coaching leadership teams. Here’s what we think “awesome” looks like:

• Everyone is working towards a shared vision
• Each person has a clearly defined role and accountability
• There is a culture of feedback and no bottlenecked decisions
• Company-wide communication is well considered, rather than ad hoc
• Leaders know how to motivate others, rather than just doing their own work.

So, now you know what to do, go, go, go!

6 ways to start upskilling your leadership team now

Building a team you trust to run your business is rarely an overnight job, and it may feel like a daunting task.

Here are a few steps you can take right now to begin the process:

1. Define a clear business vision and ensure everyone knows where you’re heading
2. Conduct a skills analysis to identify gaps and consider recruiting new team members to fill them
3. Give your leaders more accountability for daily operations
4. Clarify individual roles and responsibilities so everyone knows what’s expected of them
5. Ask your future leaders how they would approach business situations rather than telling them what to do
6. Delegate key decisions and make sure you show the rest of the business you’re okay with it.

Melo can help you make your team and your business exit-ready

If your firm relies on you for everything, you’re not ready to sell.

It might not sound appealing, but one of the foundations of a successful exit is to make yourself redundant.

And that means developing the right leaders who can drive the business forward without you there watching over them.

So, if you’re ready to bring through your future leaders, we’re here to help.

Drop us an email at hello@melo.co.uk or call us on 0113 4656 111.