A successful transition in a family business, or any business, from one generation to the next is dependent upon a variety of factors. But there is a single element to success that every new leader must master to enjoy a smooth transition, and most importantly, a successful post-transition: The ability to influence others. A recent Harvard Business Review article called Power, Influence and CEO succession by Dan Champa and Adam Bryant got me thinking about the outsized role influence plays in a successful succession. Whether the succession is happening in a large corporation or a small family business, there are human emotions—not the least of which is ego—at play. The next generation leader must not only convince the employees and management team that they are the correct choice to lead the company, but they must convince the outgoing leader that the right decision was made. The outgoing leader has generally done things a certain way for a long time that have made the business successful—and the normal human emotion is to seek validation for a lifetime of work. In my work as a family business consultant, I often see the new generation come in wanting to upend everything the current leadership is doing. In these cases, the ego of outgoing leadership is bruised because it feels like everything they’ve done is being written off—putting the company in peril going forward. And the new leadership can buffer their own ego by putting their stamp on everything. In reality, the best companies keep what works and adjust what doesn’t. But to do that, the new leader must understand how to win and wield influence.
Understanding How Influence Works
In the 1970s, Rodger Harrison and David Berlew developed a framework for applying influence that is still widely noted today. In this model, they determined the four main approaches to influence. The first two are categorized as “push” influence and the latter are “pull influence.
Push Styles of Influence
Assertive/Persuasion: In short, you must make a compelling argument, and do it in a way that reflects confidence and assurance in your prescription for the situation. Make your argument clear, compelling and bulletproof. The idea is to leave no doubt. Of course, this is a bit harder than it sounds in practice. Generally, it requires not only a solid argument but a charismatic leader with excellent communication skills to deliver it.
Incentives/Disincentives: The carrot and stick model. New leaders can create a reward/punishment system to influence others on their plan for the company. While, in my humble opinion, not always as effective as the Assertive/Persuasion approach, this form of influence can win followers if they believe that it will positively affect them. You want to ensure that almost everyone feels as if they’ll be getting the carrot and not the stick. This approach must be backed by a solid strategy. If it’s not, people will feel like the stick is inevitable.
Pull Styles of Influence
Common Vision: A leader with the ability to help others “see into the future” with them will have success. In this approach, a leader must inspire the team and get them to picture themselves in the future state that the leader’s strategy will bring about. Getting people to be able to visualize a better future in their minds can be incredibly powerful.
Openness and Involvement: Want to get everyone on board with your plan? Invite them to collaborate on it. Leaders who value the input of their team—and do so with a good dose of humility—can truly build coalitions that will serve them and the company in the long run.
Understanding How to Gain and Wield Influence
In the above approached to influence, personality plays a big role. But the ability to influence others is not solely determined by personality. There are influence “skills” that you can learn—and you can learn most of it by hard work and self-awareness. Here are my four influence skills for any next generation leader for during and after a succession:
- Know Thyself (and thy leadership style): The only way to learn your true leadership style—not what you assume it is—is self-reflection. Take some time to reflect, seriously, about your strengths and weaknesses as a leader—and be a tough critic. It may be worthwhile to bring in an executive coach as a thinking partner to help you see the forest through the trees, once you understand your strengths and weaknesses, you can use your strengths to better advantage and work on improving your weaknesses.
- Map Out the Power Structure: To determine the true power structure of a company, a leader must go beyond titles and fmd the people with the real influence. This could be a middle manager with a large team, a family member within the business or a company veteran with many years of experience working for the outgoing leader. Once you find out who the real players are—what the real players think about you—you’ll be equipped to rally your allies and convince your opponents.
- Respect the Existing Culture: Too much too fast is never a good thing. If you plan on making changes to the culture, do it gradually, and in a way that both honors the past and sets a clear, positive vision for the future. Change is inevitable, but it’s hard. Once you recognize and respect that, it will be easier to get buy-in over time.
- Exercise Patience: Even if you’ve known the employees for years—which is often the case in a family business—remember that they need time to adjust to seeing you in a leadership role. Many may have known you as a child. But being consistent over a longer period of time will build their confidence in your abilities.
For next-generation leaders, mastering influence is the key to crafting a sustainable future. With self-awareness, respect for the existing culture, a clear understanding of power dynamics, and the patience to let influence build over time, new leaders can pave the way for a transition that’s not only smooth but genuinely transformative.
