JANUARY 2017 The Costco Connection 31
ation early on and don’t leave it to chance,”
says Sobel. “Once you’ve identified your
future leaders, give them ‘stretch’ proj-
ects to work on that will grow their leader-
ship capabilities.”
Many future leaders are millennials,
whose generation is generally defined as
those born between ;;;; and ;;;;.
According to Robert Turknett, small-busi-
ness owners should consider some of the
general characteristics of this generation
when training millennials for future lead-
ership roles.
“Millennials thrive on feedback,” he
explains. “So provide plenty of construc-
tive feedback to let them know how they’re
doing and help hone their leadership
skills. Also give them challenging work
and real responsibility and decision-
making authority—don’t be afraid to let
them fail.”
Sobel concurs: “Allow your future lead-
ers to make complex decisions that entail
some risk and have consequences, includ-
ing failure. Also get them involved in your
industry—for example, by attending con-
ferences and trade shows and meeting
with your customers and vendors.”
Make it a priority
Carolyn Turknett says that leadership
development often becomes a matter of
prioritizing for small-business owners.
“Simply put, they have to make the time
for it,” she says. “It requires real engage-
ment on the part of owners and future
leaders, both of whom have to make a
commitment to the process.”
She says the Turknett Leadership
Group has created an acronym for devel-
oping future millennial leaders: PAID,
which stands for Participation and
Purpose, Appreciation, Information and
Development. “Millennials in particular
want to know the bigger-picture purpose
of the business, beyond just earning a
profit,” she says. “So be prepared to share
this with them.”
“There are no shortcuts to leader-
ship development,” says Robert Turknett.
“Developing the next generation of busi-
ness leadership is the best way to ensure
your business legacy in the future.” C
Don Sadler is an Atlanta-based freelance
writer who specializes in small business.
BUSINESSCONNECTION
Leading ahead
Training the next generation of leadership
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BY DON SADLER
A DEMOGRAPHIC shift is taking place in
America that could have a drastic impact
on small businesses. Tens of thousands of
business owners are nearing the traditional retirement age, but many haven’t
adequately trained the next generation of
leaders who will succeed them and take
their companies into the future.
“Often, small-business owners don’t
pay nearly enough attention to leadership
development, especially development of
members of the millennial generation,”
says Robert L. Turknett, a Costco member
and the CEO of the Turknett Leadership
Group (
turknett.com) in Atlanta, which
helps organizations identify and develop
high-potential employees.
Broaden your focus
When planning succession, owners
typically focus on areas like structuring
the new ownership and reducing transfer
taxes. “But they sometimes neglect what
often turns out to be the most important
factor in the transition: developing
next-generation leadership,” says Alan
Sobel, a Costco member and the managing partner of Sobel & Co., LLC (sobelcpa.
com), a CPA and advisory firm located in
Livingston, New Jersey.
This process can be especially chal-
lenging in family-owned businesses,
where family roles and hierarchy may
heavily influence leadership develop-
ment. “Sometimes these factors weigh
more heavily than family members’ skills
and abilities in determining who the
future leaders will be and how they’re
developed,” says Sobel.
According to Carolyn N. Turknett,
Robert’s wife and president of the
Turknett Leadership Group, many small-business owners don’t realize that leadership development is lacking in their firm.
“Many owners spend so much time on tactical issues that they’re not thinking
ahead years down the road,” she says.
“Then they start thinking about retirement and succession and realize there’s
nobody in the pipeline who’s ready to take
over for them.
“It’s hard enough for small-business
owners to let go when they need to,” she
adds. “Not having next-generation leaders who are ready to take the reins of the
company makes it even harder.”
Tap leadership candidates
It’s never too early to start preparing
the next generation of your company’s
leadership. The first step is to identify
good candidates for leadership so you can
begin the process of training them for
their future responsibilities.
“Owners who are the most successful
at leadership development assess the situ-
