Be Your Best Generation
Family businesses are unique. They’re built on vision, values, and relationships that span decades. But when it comes to sustaining success, one challenge stands above the rest: family business succession.
Succession is not just a business decision — it’s a family journey and conversation over time.
For succession to work well, each generation must be ‘their best generation’ — at the right time, in the right way, with the right mindset.
Be Your Best Generation (BYBG) is the heart of successful, long term succession.
It’s more than a philosophy — it’s a practical framework for multi-generational success.
What Does It Mean to “Be Your Best Generation”?
It’s a mindset and a practical framework. Every generation in a family business has a role to play, and when they lean into that role with clarity and purpose, the business thrives, and the family gets stronger. Rather than framing succession as a single moment where one person steps aside and another steps in, BYBG sees succession as a journey where each generation plays their unique role in the process.
Succession isn’t a finish line. It’s a transformation into the next stage of life.
The Senior Generation: Let Go Without Losing Relevance
If you’re a founder or Current Generation, the fear is that succession equals retirement. Let me be clear; It does not!
Too often, founders fear they’ll be cast aside the minute they talk about succession— as one said to me several years ago, “Don’t put me out to pasture!”. In great family businesses, the opposite happens. The senior generation becomes more valuable, not less. They move from being operators to mentors, from doers to visionaries.
Your new role might be:
- Chairing the board, not running the day-to-day
- Mentoring emerging leaders in the family
- Leading long-term strategic investments
- Becoming the champion of the family’s values and story
- Focusing on what you most love and delegating the stuff you don’t
BYBG for the Senior Generation means you create space for others while keeping your voice, relevance, and impact. You’re not stepping aside, you’re stepping into a new, valuable role. However if you want to hitch up your caravan and drive around the country, that too is entirely possible—just have the conversations first before you hit the road.
The Next Generation: Earn It, Build It, Own It
If you’re in the Next Generation, BYBG isn’t about waiting your turn — it’s about showing you’re ready, willing and able.
BYBG for the Next Generation, means:
- Working out how involved you want to be
- Learning, gain experience and bringing your ideas
- Building credibility with staff, suppliers
- Learning the three levels of knowledge: technical, relational, and intergenerational
- Combining your ideas and talent with the hard learned lessons and wisdom of the Current Generation
- Demonstrating you’re capable and willing to take on senior roles
BYBG means different things to each generation, it’s active and generative. Both generations working together produce far more than each on their own can.
The Transition Period: Collaboration Over Control
BYBG works when both generations are active participants in the journey. It’s not about one stepping down and the other stepping up. It’s about walking together for a while.
This transition period of shared leadership is gold. Founders can pass on wisdom. The Next Gen brings fresh energy. Families that collaborate through this period often unlock their most creative and productive years.
Yes, it can be messy. But it’s also where trust is built, leadership is tested,the future is shaped and confidence that the business is in good hands, built.
Common Family Business Succession Challenges — and How to Avoid Them
Most family business transitions don’t fail because of bad intentions — they fail due to avoidable mistakes.
Typical blockers in family business succession:
- Fear: of irrelevance, of conflict, of being left behind
- Assumptions: that succession is about dates, documents and retirement
- Lack of structure: no roles, no timelines, no expectations
- Failing to involve external advisors: Third-party experts can provide crucial objectivity and help with the difficult conversations
Actionable Tips for a Successful Succession Plan
Every family can define what it means to be their best generation. Here’s how to start your BYBG journey:
- Start the conversation early. Don’t wait until there’s a crisis
- Map out what each generation wants for the future
- Listen and learn to each other
- Work together — with mentors, advisors, structure and humour
Remember: Succession is not about leaving the stage. It’s about playing a new role on it. Whether you’re 30, 60, or 85, ask yourself: what does it mean for me to be my best generation right now?
Your family business deserves it. And so do you.
If you have any more questions regarding succession of leadership or any other aspects of family business succession, please contact Philip on philip@familybusinesscentral.com.
