It takes a certain set of qualities to start a company and make it successful. It takes vision, grit, passion, and a willingness to take risks and put it all on the line. Yet, in order for a new business to settle into a place where it can become a true Evergreen® company and last for 100 years or more, a shift must eventually take place. This often occurs when leadership transitions, from Founder to successor, and it can be tricky. The bottom line is that a founder’s mentality is necessarily different from a second generation (G2) leader’s mentality. It has to be. So how does one make this transition as smooth as possible?

I am the G2 leader of Southway Builders. In some ways, my story is similar to a typical G2 leader in a family business, in that I was present from the very early days of the company, and I became the founder’s exit strategy early in my career with Southway. But at the same time, I am not a family member and so I have the intellectual and emotional distance that a son or a grandson might not have. In my story, therefore, I think there are learnings that can apply to many businesses, family or not.