What is your legacy if you are the GOAT – the Greatest Of All Time?
Can it be about your family? Or is it just about you?
Warren Buffett recently announced that he’s stepping down after sixty years in charge.
His financial performance at Berkshire Hathaway was stellar; perhaps something that could never be repeated.
His successor, Greg Abel, has some big shoes to fill. He may struggle with the burden of comparison. What can his mark be on the world?
Buffett plans to gift 99% of his wealth to charity, under the giving pledge. That still leaves his children with an inheritance of a lazy couple of billion – each. How will they be remembered?
Legacy is your impact on the world around you and how you will be remembered when you’re gone.
Buffett’s legacy might be value investing, much like Steve Jobs’ legacy might be the iPhone. In the world of professional sports, we might think of Nadia Comăneci, Tom Brady and Michael Jordan. Stars who were so much brighter than the rest.
This form of legacy is centred around an individual.
The legacy of family is something quite different.
It’s about creating something enduring. It’s about continuity.
Founders of family enterprise are typically entrepreneurs, often with amazing rags-to-riches back stories. They are ultra-high performing, with immense self-belief and the ability to rally others around them.
But the shift from founder to head of a family dynasty can be challenging.
It involves a different set of skills.
Some founders’ lights shine so bright (even if they aren’t “the GOAT”), it remains all about them.
Their children grow up in their shadow, and sometimes stay there (even after they are gone).
The transition from G1 to G2 is perhaps the most difficult.
Because it requires a shift from one decision maker to more than one.
Something akin to the shift from autocracy to democracy.
That change cannot be underestimated.
One aging founder told me: “my children are my partners”.
He wasn’t speaking in legal terms because they were shareholders.
He considered them genuine partners in building something that would endure.
He did something that is so difficult for many founders to do …
He created space for his children to be … themselves.
That is a key part of building a legacy: recognising that you need to make space for your children to be more than just “your children”.
They tend to rise to whatever ceiling you put on them.
Jay Hughes said it well: “founders create wealth, but heirs create legacy”.
Conversation Starters:
How do you want to be remembered?
How do you want your children to be remembered?
What do you expect from your children?
What constraints do you put on your children?
Further reading:
Succession Planning: Key Considerations Between First, Second and Third Generations
Succession Planning for Family Businesses: Things to Keep in Mind as You Plan for Transition
Jack Ma Steps Down from $460B Alibaba; Succession Model
Family business transition plans are imperative to avoiding ‘Succession’-like outcomes
Succession: 8 Insights From Denmark’s Royal Abdication For Family Firms
Succession Planning: The Unseen Catalyst For Business Growth
Lessons From Rupert Murdoch’s Legal Battle
