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Socially, I’m a talker. I love stories and everytime I hear someone tell a story it reminds of one I want to share. I think of the stories I share as gifts.

Professionally, I’m a listener. And even though I give speeches and tell stories those are seldom the most important elements of an engagement.

I was interviewing a lady the other day and I repeated to her what I had heard her say. She said, “You make me sound so smart.” My response was, “You are smart. You just havn’t had the opportunity to reflect on our topic before this conversation and so you havn’t ordered your thinking, yet.”

Many people, myself included, spend a lot of time in our heads bouncing from point to point, working through topics of importance, but not reflecting out loud.

It’s amazing how smooth transitions go in our head and then we start talking out loud and the transitions are seldom as smooth out loud as they’d been in your head.

Let me share a teachnique I’ve learned. Find someone safe with whom to talk your ideas through. If you cannot find someone safe then talk out loud to yourself.

The simple act of actually hearing yourself will help you not only organize and prioritize your thinking, it will help you more effectively communicate them when it matters.

While you’re at it, look for opportunities to listen to others. Not just waiting for your turn to talk, but giving the gift of simply listening. You may not even need to share a story of your own in return.

The gift of listening may be, in and of itself, just what’s most desired.

Last March This I Believe published my essay, The Stories We Tell Ourselves. SInce then I’ve been asking myself, “Where do my beliefs come from?”

This archaelogical dig inside my head has unearthed a plethora of influences. The most notable of course are my parents. I intend to write about them later.

For now I want to talk about my friend, Sam Marques. Years ago, Sam said something to the effect that “only people who are hurting, hurt others.”

I was deeply moved by this insight. In my This I Believe essay I wrote that I believe people live into the stories they tell themselves. Since then, with that in mind, whenever someone behaves in a hurtful manner toward me I make every effort not to respond in kind.

For hurt begets hurt begets hurt and the cycle perpetuates itself.

Stephen M. R. Covey offers a great response in his book, The Speed of Trust.

1. Ask, “Have I done something to make you think I mean you harm?

If, yes, “I apolgize; that was not my intention.”

Either way, yes or no, “Please, do not do that again.”

I happen to feel the best thing I have to offer people is my company. I don’t hang around people who hurt me.

By the same token, I don’t want to be someone who hurts others.

Hence thanks to Sam when I experience the cycle of hurt, it stops with me.

Thank you, Sam and Stephen, the world’s a better place for y’all’s insight and influence.

When I was a child my parents used to say, “When you show you’re more responsible; we”l give you more freedom.”

The irony is the more I demonstrated responsibility the less freedom I had. I may have been allowed to come and go more freely, but I was tied to my responsibilities.

I’m now reminded of Janis Joplin’s line, “Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.”

As I’ve grown older I’ve come to realize accepting responsibility is an honor.

The world acknowledges that honor by entrusting us to be steward’s of its resources. People speak of “owning” things; like cars, and property and businesses.

This is a misunderstanding of our relationship with our things and our governments.

We don’t possess anything. If we do not care for the things for which we’re responsible our governments will take them away from us and entrust them to someone else, they believe will better care for them.

Our relationships with our businesses are not quite the same, but should you misbehave in your role as business owner or leader and do something the government believes inconsistent with the welfare of your community, state, nation or the world; they will find a way to pry the reins of your business from your fingers; warm and alive, cold and dead or somewhere in between.

So, what are those responsibilities? I like to think of the Hippocratic Oath and “first, do no harm”; no harm to the environment or to people.

Then, your employees; I think it’s our responsibility to lead an enterprise that’s a healthy place to work.

I think it’s important our customers can trust us to be worthy of their trust. I hate the expression, Caveat Emptor (Let The Buyer Beware). Who wants to do business with people you can’t trust?

Lastly, I think we have a responsibility to our investors and partners to treat their investment appropriately. Use the resources they’ve entrusted to our care wisely.

All of this has been a prelude to what I consider a serious responsibility.

The sustainability of a business after a leader’s tenure at the helm.

Ask yourself this, “Do I have any responsibility to the community in which I’ve conducted my business, to my customers, to my employees or my investors beyond the manner in which I lead the business during my tenure at the helm?”

What do you want your legacy to be?

The Boy Scouts instructed us to leave our campsites better than we found them. Will the world be a better place because of how you led your business?

I believe it’s an honor to be seen as worthy of responsibility.

How do you see it?

What will be your legacy?

How will your tenure as a business leader be judged?

There’s an old adage that says, “What got you here, won’t get you there.”

I was reminded of it while reading an article in Fast Company by Kevin Cashman, How To Ask–And Listen–Like You Mean It. Early in the article he asks, “What would happen if you used your drive, analytical capabilities, and intelligence to help others to grow versus having the answers and solving the problems?”

It’s ironic I should have been pulled up short by this simple question. I make my living as a consultant and contrary to popular belief, consultants are rarely hired to have the answers, but rather to know the right questions.

None the less, in all other situations, including working with my colleagues I pride myself upon being recognized as someone who finds solutions and “gets things done”.

As such, I’m quick to jump into the fray and start suggesting alternatives; quick to posit solutions.

My colleagues and I believe everyone leads sometime or another in the sense that everyone influences someone. As such, I was pulled up short so to speak when I read the article this morning.

Why? Because even when I’m not the “leader”, someone is watching and I can probably make a greater contribution asking a few more questions and digging a little deeper before I jump in with answers.

As much as I abhor a vacuum, if nothing else, leaving a little space for others to play may make the game a little richer and the solutions chosen possibly better.

Covey’s 2nd habit of highly effective people is “Begin with the end in mind.” The ultimate “end” for business owners is their exit strategy. Economists project we’re at the beginning of the greatest transfer of wealth in history. Business leaders are supposed to be handing over the reins to their successors. Parents are expected to pass on their wealth to their descendants.

Do You Have An Exit Strategy?

Parents Will Do What They’ve Always Done.
Death catches up with everyone sooner or later. So, in the case of children inheriting from their parents that will follow the path of previous generations; some parents will have their affairs in order, others will not. Some parents will have worked with financial planners and wealth managers to transfer as much of their estate as they legally can and others will leave a mess for their progeny to clean up.

Business Owners Appear Unprepared to Let Go

Business owners who in the past at ages 55-70 would have been working to exit; today, don’t seem ready to pass the torch. The last few years have seen many businesses’ top and bottom lines decline. So, their businesses are not worth as much as they may have once been.

Prior to the downturn these owners were anticipating getting out. They were entertaining day dreams of how much they would get for their business. But they hadn’t started getting their house in order, because it wasn’t time, yet

Now, the recession/depression/downturn has left many of these businesses just hanging on. They’re focused on maintaining cash flow, meeting payroll, keeping the lights on.

Uncertainty Blamed for Inaction

The current political climate is making the situation more difficult. Uncertainty over whether or not new taxes, legislation and regulations will actually be put into effect has created a “wait and see” mindset that continues to impede recovery.
Many leaders find it impossible to make projections they feel secure basing decisions upon due to the political smoke obscuring the next few years. Investors argue that even when demand is discernible; it’s hard to commit to investing money when you don’t feel you can project the return on the investment. When I have probed for clarification; they have explained that using the worst case scenarios as they relate to taxes and healthcare costs project a lesser ROI than they desire. So, they continue to wait, hoping something will change.

Energized or Enervated?

Some owners have been energized by the challenges of the last few years. They’ve thrown themselves back into their businesses and have enjoyed fighting the good fight. Many others however have been exhausted by having to draw on physical, emotional and financial reserves at a time when they had intended coasting into retirement.

Who’s Buying Businesses Anyway?

Many business owners have not gotten their business ready to sell because they don’t think anyone will want to buy it. Where will they find someone who will see unexploited opportunity? Where are they going to find someone who believes they can generate a greater return from your assets than they could starting from scratch?

Why Wouldn’t They Start From Scratch?

Well, you may have existing customer relationships that represent future sales. Your brand may be respected. The workforce you have in place may represent unrealized intellectual property. Plus, basic physics, it’s easier to keep an object in motion than to overcome inertia and start a balling rolling in the first place. In most cases, the new owner will either invest more capital or more energy into the operation than you are currently, further fueling growth.

Some Owners Have Unrealistic Expectations

The flip side of the above scenario is the classic small business owner; who when asked how much he wants for his business responds, “A million dollars.” When asked how he came to this figure he states, “That’s how much I need to retire.”

In both cases, business owners benefit from sitting down with objective professionals and exploring their options. Gathering the facts and evaluating their choices in a disciplined manner will enable them to be ready when the opportunity to sell arises..

Selling a Business Seldom Happens Overnight

Just like selling a house, it takes a lot of work to prepare a business for sale. Houses are staged to sell: excess furniture is removed, fresh coats of paint applied, the lawn is mowed, etc; including having a pie baking in the oven when prospects visit.

Businesses undergo a similar process. Buyers want to see what they’re buying and the neater and cleaner the business looks; the more desirable it is.

Packaging Your Business for Sale

The following suggestions are only the tip of the iceberg. But they’re a good place to start doing something.

1) Financially speaking, talk to your accountant (CPA). The average buyer will want to see your books at a minimum for the last five years. Be prepared to answer questions like:
· Where do you make your money?
· What’s your margin on your different products and services?
· Upon what are your projections of future sales based
· What’s your EBIDTA?

2) Operationally, clean house:
· Go through your physical plants and tidying up the place.
· Take inventory, sell off or dispose of “junk”.
· Codify your processes:

o Who does what?
o Who’s accountable to whom and for what?
o How does your business do what it does?

3) Get your marketing straight.
· Do you have a database of your current and past customers, with up to date contact info?
· Do you have a database of your prospects, with up to date contact info?
· Clarify your brand. It’s your greatest asset and is the strongest indicator of future sales.

4) Now that you’ve done your homework, do a little planning. Take a look around so you can identify opportunities for growth. The disciplines of scenario planning and strategic planning can help you craft a picture of the future that will enhance the desirability of your business.

5) You’re going to have to spend money to sell your business above and beyond the commission you pay your business broker. Finding the right professionals to help you sell your business will enable you to get as much as the market will bear and position you to keep as much of it as is legally possible.

Talk to your current advisers. I mentioned your CPA earlier, get with your lawyer(s) as well. Talk with your Certified Financial Planner (CFP), as well. Have them talk to one another.

Failing to Plan Is Planning to Fail

There have been a lot of reasons lately for taking your eyes off the goal of having an exit strategy. None of them are sufficient to continue avoiding the responsibility of putting your affairs in order. Should you walk out the door and get run over by a bus (as happened to a friend of mine) what will happen to your business? Make the time to protect your life’s work. Seek professional help, so you can maximize the return on all your hard work. Yes, those professionals cost money but it’s money well spent.

I’ll leave you with one last thought. Consider sitting down with a strategic consultant, who specializes in helping people taking a disciplined look at their situation, cutting through the clutter, so they make decisions that they feel comfortable committing to and being accountable.

It’s time to free yourself from your business, reap your reward and allow the next generation to pick up the yoke. So, follow Covey’s 1st Habit of Highly Effective People and “Be Proactive”. Do something; after all that’s how you built your business in the first place.