Good morning!
Here are today’s highlights:
Julia Beardwood was just starting to build her business when she laid the groundwork for a successful exit.
Let me know if you’re interested in joining a peer group of owners exploring exit options.
Corey Rosen says the cost of selling to an ESOP can be less than the cost of a traditional sale.
Joshua Baer prided himself on helping people quit their jobs (to start businesses).
HUMAN RESOURCES
Adam Grant (and colleagues) say the real reason bosses want workers back in the office isn’t productivity: “When the pandemic came to an end, many people who had been working from home assumed they would be allowed to maintain that habit at least a few days a week. But today in the U.S., a third of companies have forced everyone back to the office full time and have banned remote and hybrid work. Some leaders say they insist on full-time in-person work because it boosts productivity, despite clear evidence that it does not. Others claim it’s about collaboration, creativity, or culture. Our new research reveals that the objection to any work from home is more likely to be driven by something else entirely: ego.”
“Case by case, there may be good reasons for teams to work together in person. As a general rule, though, it turns out that ordering people back to the office full time is a power and status move. It’s a signature strategy of leaders who exhibit narcissistic qualities. They see any kind of remote work as a threat to their authority and admiration. They want to be worshiped at the office altar.”
“Over the past six years, we’ve studied why some leaders continue to support remote work, while others resist it. We surveyed thousands of executives, middle managers, and frontline supervisors on a host of personality traits. When we later asked them about their stances on hybrid and remote work, their answers didn’t correlate with how much they trusted their employees or how much they loved being around people.”
“The only trait that consistently predicted objections to remote work was narcissism — the tendency to be self-centered and entitled. The higher the opinions of themselves leaders expressed, the more they coveted power and status — and the more they favored return-to-office mandates.” READ MORE
THE 21 HATS PODCAST: DASHBOARD
Early on, Julia Beardwood created a compensation plan that ignited the growth of her business: Years later, that same plan paved the way for her exit. A health scare in 2015 prompted Julia to confront a question many business owners prefer to postpone: What happens when it’s time to leave the business? Over the next several years, the founder of the New York City branding agency Beardwood explored a range of possibilities, including selling to an ESOP and pursuing a strategic acquisition. But when the time came, the solution turned out to be much closer to home. Years earlier, Julia had implemented a compensation strategy that gave key employees a meaningful stake in the company’s success. What began as a way to motivate and retain talent ultimately created a pathway for ownership transition.
You can subscribe to the 21 Hats Podcast—brought to you by Grasshopper Bank—wherever you get podcasts.
THE SUCCESSION SOLUTIONS WORKSHOP
I’m putting together an eight-session, small-group, virtual workshop for owners who want to start doing the real work of succession planning—but don’t want to tackle it alone and would rather not get all of their information from someone whose livelihood depends on steering them toward a specific solution. Participation will be limited to approximately 10 experienced owners who are serious about succession planning and willing to share candidly with one another. We’ll meet every other week on Zoom for two hours:
First hour: A special guest joins us—someone with real, first-hand experience who can start answering our questions. The guests will vary: In many cases, they’ll be owners who’ve chosen their plan and lived with the consequences, good and bad. In other cases, they’ll be practitioners who work on succession every day. These will be people I’ve vetted and trust to share their expertise without turning the conversation into a sales pitch.
Second hour: Peer conversation. We compare notes on what we’re thinking, what we’re learning, and what questions need to be answered. The goal is to help each other see our options more clearly, challenge our assumptions, and avoid mistakes that others have already made. We’ll get the insights only other business owners would be able to share. Just reply to this email if you think you might be interested.
