Your leadership should outlast you
Leadership is a 24/7 commitment, a mindset, a way of living your life. It is difficult to take the leader out of a leader. But does your leadership still show up when you are gone?
If you were gone tomorrow, would your leadership continue?
We think so. If you were gone tomorrow, do you have things in order to continue your leadership and make life easier for those you have left behind? Your will is a starting point, and maybe you have life insurance so there is liquid financial support available. Life is more complex than that, especially if you own a business. Ensuring that your family and business associates have instructions and access to what they need to clean up your affairs and ensure the success of your business is your way of leading after you are gone.
The Green Box, a simple tool for succession planning
The Green Box concept advocates keeping your critical information in a single place that can be accessed by the people you trust when you are no longer here. Whether it is a physical box, a secure virtual location, or both, is up to you. In addition to documents and passwords, I have over 200 in my virtual safe, the Green Box can contain specific instructions that provide the how and why behind what is covered in your will. Think of it as a practical succession planning checklist for business owners that preserves your intent and protects your people.
Succession planning checklist for business owners, the Green Box list
- Letter to your spouse
- Letter to each child
- Letter to your employees, vendors, and business partners
- List of the five most important employees in the company and their strengths and weaknesses
- Off balance sheet deals
- Organizational chart
- List of personal and business contacts to notify in the event of your passing
- Deals in process and your evaluation of them
- Strategy you are considering that you have not shared yet
- List of trusted advisors and their roles, such as lawyer and accountant
- Instructions not addressed in your will
- Copies of power of attorney documents
- Copy of passport and birth certificate
- Copies of all credit cards
- Copies of physical property titles
- Personal stock portfolio information
- Details of life insurance, personal and company owned
- Details of all other insurance
- Copies of personal property valuations, such as jewelry, guns, and collectibles
- Computer passwords
- Personal financial statement
- Extra passport photos
- Medical and dental charts
- Funeral and burial instructions
- Mementos and the people you would like to receive them
- Whatever else is important to your family or your business
Keep it current
Creating a Green Box takes a focused effort to make it onto today’s list, there are always more fun and more immediately profitable things to do. For all of us it is guaranteed that the day will come when the Green Box will be required. Many of the items above change often, so set aside time on a quarterly, or at least semi-annual basis, to update the information. That is a good use of your time.
Start now
Begin with a simple version, then add detail. Decide who should have access, choose where it will live, and schedule your next review. This is how you ensure your leadership lasts.
Support for your leadership legacy
If you want a partner to help you think through succession planning, leadership continuity, and team readiness, we can help through executive coaching, team coaching, and leadership training.
