The succession of a company needs to be planned well and ahead of time. In reality, we often have to take swift action. That’s exactly when an interim coach can help!
The assignment
A medium-sized seemed to have had readily planned its company succession. Jan H., aged 60, and his brother Gunnar, aged 62, had been leading the family business for decades. While Jan was responsible for sales, his older brother managed procurement and production. It had been consensually decided that Gunnar’s son, aged 32, himself having a PhD in food technology, was to succeed Gunnar in his role as production manager. Gunnar’s son had already been working for the company for four years. When Jan H. had an accident and was no longer able to work, the company suddenly found itself without a sales manager. “Junior”, Gunnar’s son, did not feel well prepared when assuming the position of sales manager, after being asked to do so by his father. Managing the sales force, conducting price negotiations and planning marketing measures were not among his competencies and he did not have any experience in those fields. For the good of the company, a seasoned interim manager coach was hired to assist the son with sales and to act as a coach.
The challenge for the interim coach
The challenge that the interim manager faced was having to act as sales manager at the same time as having to train the son and award him with an increasing amount of responsibilities.
The remedy?
The interim manager adapted a sales training module from a trainee program of a consumer goods company to the company and the situation at hand.
The internal and external sales teams were involved in the process. They took the son on visits to customers and even let him fill out mission reports. The controlling department trained him in the field of costing, and the interim manager monitored the progress by conducting a weekly meeting on Mondays.
The next step was to include the son in price negotiations. The interim manager led these price negotiations and bore the sole responsibility for them. Price negotiations are an integral part of sales activities.
The months-long process was strenuous for all parties involved, since everyone bore multiple responsibilities:
- The interim manager acted as trainer and sales manager at the same time
- The son, whilst being trained to become a sales manager, had to continue his work in production
- Gunnar H. was once again solely responsible for production while the workload stayed the same, due to his son having to withdraw from production in certain cases
The public image gave rise to another problem: on the one hand, the son was not able to be solely responsible for all sales processes. On the other hand, he was being presented as the designated successor in sales.
The interim manager was able to overcome this challenge by implementing the following measures:
- Shortly after the start of the project, the son was appointed CEO of the company. This immensely helped to foster his public image.
- As soon as customers required the interim manager and the son to make crucial decisions, they asked for some time to think in order to avoid losing their face if the junior CEO were to make a wrong decision.
- Increasingly, the junior manager began to make small-scale decisions after having consulted his coach.
- Starting with the second meeting, smaller customers, that account for a relatively small share of revenue, were looked after by the junior CEO alone.
- Last but not least, a transparent communication policy was established, so that customers were informed about the motives that stood behind the new approach
The result yielded by the interim coach
After six months of close cooperation, responsibility was gradually transferred to the son. Whenever questions arose, they were increasingly handled through phone calls and not by meeting in person. Differences of opinion developed as well.
In some areas, the junior CEO had developed his own approach to sales. The interim manager saw himself having to increasingly defend his views towards the junior CEO. In a way, the sorcerer’s apprentice had come to match his master.
Conclusion
An interim manager can also function as a trainer for younger successors of companies. How closely the cooperation will be and how long it has to last greatly depends on the distribution of know-how among the parties involved.
