Once you have those perfect employees for whom you have spent literally hours vetting and convincing them to work for you, you must target and develop your future managers. As the company grows, it is vital to have people with strong management skills to whom you can delegate the running of your business’s different segments. Once you have those managers and give them titles, it is imperative that you give them real authority. Managers must be able to make day to day decisions regarding their areas of the business. A situation may occur where there isn’t agreement on how it’s to be handled. It needs to be dealt with in a way that the manager’s authority is not undermined. A manager who is constantly overruled will lose confidence in his abilities and ultimately the second guess everything he does. Having a company of managers who can’t make basic decisions without consulting [] the “powers that be” will stifle growth…completely.
The gentleman I mentioned earlier who desperately wants to sell his company, but has no one to run it, readily admits that he did not spend enough time developing a good manager to take over the business operation after he leaves. Had he done some pre-planning and targeted one, or a group of individuals, as possible successors, he could have given them responsibilities that would have tested how they react to different business situations. Unfortunately, he has been so caught up in running the business, he has completely ignored his succession planning.

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