Episode 40: Transitions: The Best and Worst of Times

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Transitions: The Best and Worst of Times
Episode #40 of the Third Turn Podcast with Steve Coleman

Transition advisor Steve Coleman very much sees transitions as both the best and worst of times.  He’s motivated by the both/and and has a gifted lens through which to see hope and possibility where business owners might only see the bleakness and blockages.  It’s Steve’s sightline, along with lots of helpful, clarifying questions along the way, that helps confused clients navigate through to get there.

Steve describes the best and worst of business transition as:

• VUCA - the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity that often marks business transitions
• Abundance - the opportunity to recognize and embrace abundance that can emerge in all its many forms--learning, knowledge, connections, reputations, relationships, new opportunities, and new forms of impact--if we’re willing to walk into and through the mist of chaos and confusion rather than avoiding it.

But avoiding business transition planning is what most do.  According to Steve (and many statistics):

• Almost no one comes prepared.
• The biggest competitor in business planning?  Non-urgency.
• The biggest challenge? A leader/owner’s unwillingness to let go.

Steve’s advice is to start early, when things are calm; identify an endpoint vision/goal and work backwards from it; and be very clear about the true metrics and measuring stick, when making more money isn’t the ultimate endgame.

To give us a sightline to what’s possible, Steve shares a moving story of a family feed business whose owner had great hopes of ownership continuing to the next generation, only to find resistance and unresolved conflict with his son.  But what started as dashed hopes, family conflict, and “failed succession”, ultimately evolved into a strategic sale of the business and a philanthropic cause that engaged and united the family in a new way.  The owner’s vision of a new season of family impact and contribution came to fruition not in their midwest family-owned agricultural business but through a family foundation that gave root to a wave of economic enterprise in Africa.

True to his best-and-worst philosophy and vision, Steve also volunteers in hospice to support families in the dying and grief process.  Like Mark, Steve’s own family experienced the unexpected gifts that can come amid deep loss.  And he’s one who feels called to be alongside others in such places of chaos and confusion, holding hope for the life-giving possibilities that can so graciously emerge there.

Additional Resources:

• Steve’s LinkedIn profile
• Platinum Group - the organization through which Steve serves, and some of their case studies
• Minnesota Network of Hospice & Palliative Care - hospice is a cause Steve also serves
• Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God by Tim Keller - Steve’s current book recommendation
• VUCA and Abundance: A Deeper Dive

- Kristin Evenson

With each episode of the Third Turn Podcast we host a conversation among leaders who want the world to flourish for generations beyond their lifetimes.

Listening with others in some way and enjoying in-depth conversations of your own as you reflect and choose what you would do the same or differently is a plus!

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The Third Turn Podcast is part of the Maestro-level leaders initiative, a production of Design Group International. Strategically Connected's Jennifer Miller is the producer.

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