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Susan Forward, author of Emotional Blackmail, gave me a key phrase for coaching that is life-changing: Where is it written … (insert issue)? As a farm family coach who is currently in her third succession/transition journey, I would like to challenge you with “Where is it written that transition planning has to be tough?”
I met Kurt Siemens and his son Harley at an Egg Farmers seminar. These Manitoba farmers are a shining example of working things out for their future legacy by building on the existing foundation of trust and open communication. They also had an enthusiastic accountant and a banker who toured their operation. Yes, they had arguments, discussions and crying, resulting in siblings having share options, but they are smiling now.
Is your adviser keeping you stuck and making things hard? Our accountant and her tax specialist met with us and our successors at our home in the middle of summer, but that was several months after we had done initial coaching meetings. Many of you are procrastinating, saying, “We’ll do this after calving or after seeding, or after spraying or after haying, or after harvest or after Christmas.” Do you see what just happened? Another year has passed, and nothing has changed except everyone is another year older.
Our accounting firm coach, Peter Manness, came to visit us with his large Post-it note paper which he slapped on my kitchen wall. He talked to us as founders, then to the successors, and then invited us all in the same room to visualize what we all wanted the future to look like. We talked about income stream, housing, fairness to the non-farm sibling and some structure ideas. The ideas came from us, not a cookie-cutter template from the accountant. We also used personal style profile assessments to figure out who was task-oriented, influential, detail-oriented and good with people.
Colin Sabourin of Harbourfront Wealth Management in Winnipeg calls farm transition a journey. He encourages clients to first decide what they want, doing this exercise with a trusted adviser and a family coach. He can give clarity on lifestyle planning before heading into tactics with the accountant or lawyer. I highly recommend seeing a financial planner first to figure out what you want for your life as you let go of management of the business or start higher degrees of collaboration with the next generation. Visit www.cafanet.ca/advisor-listing/ to find great advisers who care about agriculture in your area.
Many farmers who approach me for coaching initially cannot tell me what they truly want. No one has asked them. This takes time to process. One of my clients left the country for a month to visit his homeland and get clarity on what he truly wanted to “let go” of. You might want to book off some “thinking and pondering time,” perhaps a week or two in a warmer locale where work is not calling you to the bin or the barn.
Transitioning management and ownership of a farm business is a journey. The Chinese say, “You begin the journey of 1,000 steps with the first step.” Your attitude about conflict needs to be positive, knowing that positive conflict behaviours are going to help everyone get what they want.
Here’s a list of positive behaviours:
- The ability to create solutions
- Expressing emotions
- Being able to see things from more than one perspective
- Willingness to be adaptable and let go
- Keeping the decision-making process ongoing and driving accountability for appointments with coaches, planners and accountants
Would your transition journey be smoother with a map?
Sometimes a farmer asks me for my “checklist” for a great succession experience. Each family’s business dynamic is unique, yet there are many things to navigate. We don’t stop exploring and having adventures when the road gets a bit bumpy. Here’s my farm family harmony map to help you find harmony through understanding as you transition:
- Plan your approach; get everyone to the table to talk and gain perspective.
- Know that culture beats strategy, so work on your aligned values, behave well with one another and practice shared decision-making.
- Embrace conflict resolution as a business risk management strategy as you share your intent with each other, and then feedback how those intentions affect you.
- Identify the tough issues people are avoiding, and discuss the pinch points keeping you up at night.
- Open the farm books for financial transparency to share your attitudes and expectations about income streams, personal wealth bubbles, debt servicing and gifts to non-farm heirs. This is finding fairness in farm transition and is working towards everyone being successful.
- Deal with expectations that are not workable, things like entitlement or greed.
- Accept the voice and input of the in-laws who bring many skills to the farm team; be willing to create clear job descriptions for all.
- Finally, gather for a formal session with a flipchart and a well-thought-out agenda to have a robust farm family vision meeting to kickstart your journey of transition.
Again, where is it written that transition planning must be hard? It’s a workable journey. Please take steps now to create certainty for your family.
