All entrepreneurs exit their company … eventually. We get to say when, but not whether. Retiring ‘from’ is the easy part. It’s very well defined. Retiring ‘to,’ for me, is a much trickier circle to square.
Preparing my team for my eventual exit is something I like to think I have been working on since I started down this road. Fortunately, my team knows more than me about how to do their jobs. If there is one thing I have over-achieved at in life it is making myself “not indispensable.” We toiled forever to build systems, protocols, methods and instructions so our success is not reliant on tribal knowledge — mine or theirs.
I think most who create a company like to think it will outlast them. It’s very important that the rest of our team is prepared for what is next. Our cathedral already has the foundation and buttresses built. It will be up to the future builders to fill out the statuary, stained glass, decorations, etc. Our corporate values are the foundation and columns that support the soaring grand roof that shelters us all. Choosing values is of utmost importance; if done well, they will live on with the company for its future history. They define us. A mission can change, visions can adapt, but the values should be cast in stone and live on. At least that is my plan.
A company has a narrative arc, not unlike a well-crafted story.
Some castles are high on a hill, visible for centuries for all around to see.
I have been toiling at it for 40 years. I have been around for 69 years. For the majority of my life, I have been at this endeavor. But if I consider my professional life, it has been virtually all with this firm — 40 of 49 years. There is no way to look at my history with our company as anything other than defining me.
It should be every entrepreneur’s goal to build a holistic life/wealth portfolio. The most excellent book, “5 Types of Wealth” by Sohil Bloom, calls them out as time, social, mental, physical and financial. Unfortunately, after being around for a long while, no one has the luxury of time wealth. Being time wealthy is wasted on the youth. They do not even realize its importance. Time wealth and financial wealth are quantifiable. Social wealth is a bit trickier. Social wealth is your network of close relationships. Who will be in the front row at your funeral? Physical and mental wealth are pretty important, too. If you have deficiencies there, you will not have much fun in your retirement.
We had a new manager in our HR department. After getting to know me, she said bemusedly, “You’re never going to retire.” Well, we will see.
My Cathedral’s foundation is solidly resting on the bedrock of our core values and social wealth I have brought it for the last 40 years. Is my work here done? ●
Steve Peplin is CEO of Talan Products
