Think like the Royals - the Art of Succession Planning

Published 13 September 2022 | 2 min read

Waking up on September 9th to the news that Queen Elizabeth II had died left me feeling quite disconnected and strange for some time. While her age was advancing and we knew that her health wasn’t the best, that smiling picture of her welcoming Liz Truss as the new Prime Minister added to my confusion that she was no longer with us.  Her son, King Charles III (that will take time to get used to) paid tribute to his mother, thanking her for – among other things – “her guidance, understanding and example.” What he has learnt, he will take with him into his new role as King. 

Last year, we wrote about growing a family business across generations and successfully building and nurturing the business to ensure good management and good structure. These components are vital, but they come with their inherent challenges when they rely on how individual family members see their role in the business’s future. So while succession planning may have fewer roadblocks than in non-family-owned businesses, family members are more likely to have differing visions of the future and the best way forward. 

Emotions play an important role within family businesses; emotions that originate from family values, blood ties, history and entrepreneurial passion. In order to be of service to family businesses, it is crucial to always realise the importance of such emotional considerations. But these emotions can be like a double-edged sword; they can either make companies very strong or make them vulnerable. 

Successful succession planning involves the identification and education of a successor and the gradual relinquishing of control. While the decision making in royal circles is driven by centuries-old tradition, we did recently see the Queen handing responsibilities within ‘the Firm’ over to her eldest son. For any business owner this is a challenge, having invested their life into something that they must now pass the baton on. This requires much planning, strong leadership, good communication and time.

This is well summarised by the four L’s cycle: 

• Learning business 
• Learning the family business 
• Learning to lead the family business 
• Learning to let go 

King Charles will definitely be a different sort of leader to his mother, but all we can ask is that he respects and upholds the approach that his mother so successfully employed. And family businesses are exactly the same; things will change but the values upon which the business was built need to remain constant.  

Many of our clients at EQ Consultants are family-owned businesses. They find that getting the right external advice around this issue from an organisation who knows their business well is vital, as it gives an element of impartiality, especially around succession planning, which has the potential to be a fraught process. Clients who involve us as early as possible find that negative issues are avoided, and that planning is sound for their business to flourish into the future. 

Written by

Jenny Bar

Senior Recruitment Consultant

Jenny is the go-to person for the organisation. With planning, management and organisational experience in a range of industries from education and accounting to conference management and human resources, she is well placed to wear many hats within the company.

Jenny has experience in mentoring individuals to achieve international recognition in a variety of fields from the visual arts and small business management to the health industries and national online presence enhancement.