By Leo MacLeod
The Daily Record Newswire
Each day of the next 19 years, more than 10,000 baby boomers will turn 65. More senior partners will ask if they can afford to retire anytime soon. It’s easy to blame the recession, but too often it’s a systemic host of issues that make that answer “not now.”
One of the fundamental questions in succession planning is: Who will continue the rainmaking that funds the retirement of the very people who performed most of the rainmaking? Has the firm invested in growing the next generation of leaders and rainmakers to step up? Or will the key business relationships leave the firm along with the diplomas and framed photos?
The transition in rainmaking responsibilities can be problematic, making retirement challenging. The issues are both ends of the equation: those who are trying to leave and those who are staying.
Too often, senior principals don’t want to make specific retirement plans. They may not know when they want to retire or what that looks like. Aside from the steady paycheck, they appreciate being able to contribute by offering sage advice and leveraging relationships. They have spent a lifetime building equity in relationships that often generate revenue. It’s difficult for them to simply give that up and retire. For one thing, can they trust their replacements to honor and cultivate relationships to their expectations? For another, can retirement offer the same satisfaction?
This is not to say 65 is a definitive mark, but it’s important for the next generation of leaders to know where they stand. Sit down with team members and have an open discussion about succession. Create a plan that works for everyone. There is a risk of losing good people if their timeline for moving on is not the same as others’ timeline for moving up.
I’ve seen firms make the transition successfully, and they have started early. Responsibility and accountability are pushed down through the ranks. Senior people don’t hoard their relationships or squash initiative of younger staff. Senior principals take junior staffers to lunches with clients. They throw them on the front line. They allow them take the glory and the knocks. That requires a shift from “doer” to “mentor.” A senior manager begins to shift from taking the lead to supporting other people and growing them. That mentor/servant philosophy needs to be modeled at the top.
Rainmaking at too many firms is isolated to the senior people. And when the rainmakers want to retire, the next managers often don’t have the relationships because they haven’t had to build them. For smooth transitions, junior staffers need to develop the “relationship habit” early.
Relationships are funny, fragile things. They cannot be simply transferred like a company’s assets. People buy from people they like and trust, and years are needed to build that equity. As people mature in their responsibilities, they must get out of the office and build their own relationships. Technical skills get the work done but relationship skills often win the work. As associates move up, relationship-building should be a larger part of their job descriptions.
Even if principals are proactive in grooming their replacements, the challenge doesn’t stop there. Rainmaking can be hard work: maintaining disciplined follow-ups, swallowing overcooked beef at award dinners and playing golf with unfamiliar people (well, golf with anyone can still be enjoyable).
People will not necessarily rise to the challenge simply because you’ve made it clear that it’s important. They’re often busy with projects and not inclined to spend their free time doing something work-like.
Rainmaking is not a list of prescribed must-do’s. Encourage them to take an engineer or project manager out for a beer or a bike ride. Rainmaking doesn’t need to be a solitary activity: Suggest that a group assembles for an activity.
Give staffers time during the day so they can meet with colleagues or attend workshops. All too often, one message sent is: “get out more” and another is: “work harder.” With everyone working more for less money, it’s challenging to carve out to time for anything other than billable time, but the alternative is to one day end up without rainmakers.
Applaud whatever small steps taken by junior staffers to take initiative in rainmaking, such as arriving at the office early to perform a mock interview with other staffers, organizing a softball game, or doggedly chasing down a lead. Rainmakers can retire, but planning ahead by investing in the next generation will allow a company to do it on its timeline.
Leo MacLeod is a strategic marketing and new business consultant. Contact him at leo@mainspringmarketing.com.
