10. Succession Firstly, there are two elements of succession: Leadership Succession and Ownership Succession. Leadership succession is around developing your leaders—the next generation—the people that are going to take on the role of growing, building, and controlling your business. Leadership succession is often far more complex and challenging and should happen before ownership succession. The problem with leadership succession in our industry is that it’s often more difficult than in other industries. Quite often the leaders are the key initiators of design and client relationships, and they’re not necessarily skills that you can educate or develop people on. These traits are inherent in leaders in our profession and therefore they find it difficult to let go of decision-making around clients and design. Leaders feel that this is where they can most effectively contribute to the business. However, the greatest contribution you can make in your business could be the development of those that take your business forward. There is a great personal and financial reward in leadership succession. If you can change your thinking around leadership succession, you’ll be ahead of many other AED practices. Start with transitioning your decision making, your client relationships, and your design decisions. Give your people exposure to business management and give them clear expectations and responsibilities.n
Our financial and business management experience can maximise the potential of architects, designers, engineers, planners and other creative professionals. We believe everybody should focus on excelling at what they do best. Talk to us about getting the most from your business. Email Robert Peake rpeake@m4d.com.au.
The Future of Engineering 2030 What does the future look like for our industry in 2030? How will our work change throughout the next decade and where will we be by the end of this decade? If you aren’t thinking about these questions now, you are already behind the pace. In this article, we identify some of the biggest changes we expect to see in the next 10 years and ways your firm can adapt and benefit from them into the future.
